[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] FW: [CWWC] HUMAN INCOMPREHENSION: THE CROSS

[mmoore11 at kent.edu]

From: committed-walk-with-Christ at groups.io
<committed-walk-with-Christ at groups.io> On Behalf Of Mr. Ed via groups.io
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2021 10:18 AM
To: Mr. Ed <pinky14 at abe.midco.net>
Subject: EXT: [CWWC] HUMAN INCOMPREHENSION: THE CROSS

 


HUMAN INCOMPREHENSION: THE CROSS


And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi,
lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?").
<https://link.biblegateway.com/click/23344814.2070/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnY
XRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9TWFyay4xNS4zNA/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174B7
ef1ae53> Mark 15:34

Today's devotional again comes from a Chinese house church pastor who was
arrested and held for three weeks just prior to this talk. He says his
experience was going with Christ to the Garden and to the Cross. Today he
continues and explains another aspect of The Cross:

But it is not all triumph. I know some pastors who said they just smiled all
the time from the moment they were arrested, and felt unutterable joy the
whole time. I suppose that is possible. After all, Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego seemed to be very calm throughout their ordeal. But we must not
make that the test of true spirituality. The Psalmists are full of despair
and questioning as they go through hard times. So were Jeremiah and Job and
Habakkuk. And most sobering of all, our Lord Himself was heard to cry from
the Cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (
<https://link.biblegateway.com/click/23344814.2070/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnY
XRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9TWFyay4xNS4zNA/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174C7
ef1ae53> Mark 15:34)

This is the dark side of the experience. What makes suffering hardest to
bear are the questions, the voices that well up within each of us, that are
full of doubts, despair and depression. And I believe this is OK. As humans
we were not meant to suffer. We were made to be part of a perfect world,
with no sorrow or sighing, an Eden where everyone was righteous and
fulfilled. So when we suffer, there is a sense in which our bodies and
spirits witness saying, "This is unnatural, this is not why we were
created."

In my own case, I wondered whether God had turned His back on me, or was
punishing me for past sins. Yes, I know that sounds odd after all I have
just said about feeling the power of God within to forgive my persecutor,
and having the angel strengthen me. But you forget these things in the dark
watches of the night, sleeping sandwiched between two prisoners and being
cursed by everyone because you need to rise and go to the toilet; and so
everyone must wake up and shift their position. It was the nights that were
worst.

But most of these doubts were not weaknesses as such; they were attempts to
comprehend the incomprehensible. Where is God here? What's He up to? How can
this possibly extend His kingdom? How is His glory served by one of my
sisters being raped by an interrogator? The fact is, when we suffer, there
is so much that we cannot understand. I read somewhere that "because we are
human, we yearn to understand, but because we are human, we cannot
understand."

Suffering puts us in our place. It humbles us to realize that we are not
really in charge of our lives. This is a hard realization. God is in charge,
and His purposes can be hard to discern at times. He takes even the sin of
the world, and turns it to good account. We often do not see how He does
this, but we believe it. Accepting it in faith is never easy when you are
suffering.

RESPONSE: Today I will not try to understand the incomprehensible. I will
accept God's goodness in everything by faith.

PRAYER: Pray for Christian prisoners going through great pain today that
they may know His touch.

Provided by Bible Gateway:

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