Suffering Redeemed

Numbers 5-6; Psalms 22; Acts 26 

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?…All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.”

Psalm 22:1, 27, 28

This passionate, painful cry of David was quoted by Christ on the cross as he died for the sin of the world. Christ was forsaken so we could turn to the Lord and find mercy. Christ was rejected, humbled, insulted, and killed, only to rise from the dead, be given a name above every name, and the worship of the nations. This salvific story was prophesied by David many hundreds of years before it was fulfilled in Christ. Today the families of the nations, even from the farthest ends of the earth are turning to the Lord as the Gospel of the Kingdom reaches all the earth. When God allows suffering in our lives, he prepares us for it and produces good fruit through it if we are willing to live for his glory. Jesus shows us the way.

“Lord Jesus, thank you for suffering for me. I offer my life to you, for your glory.”