"Life Happens" -2

"The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow." (Psalms 116:3)

 As I was praying about the connection between what Jesus was going through and what we might have to go through ourselves, I was reminded how Jesus was a man, as much as He was God. He felt pain and sorrow, just as you and I do; He even became hungry, thirsty, and tired, just as you and I do. So it is no surprise that He would dread the terrible ordeal that awaited, seeing how He would feel every bit of the experience, just as any one of us would. In the connection, we have something that is revealed in what Christ went through, which carries over to us in our suffering. What He suffered and died for was the will of the Father, and because it was the Father's will that was being done, then it was made glorious and perfect. As crazy as it might sound, without His suffering and death, life would not happen! Each and every one of us, from Adam to you and I, would still be dead in our sins and condemned to eternal suffering in hell. "If there be another way," was not the answer, and Jesus knew that, for He was here on this earth for that specific reason. Anytime that we become overcome with something that might cause us to feel sorrow and pain, we have an opportunity to be glorious and perfect works of the Father. People that know who we are and how much we love the Lord, they will see our suffering, but they will sense our love and commitment to the Lord. That is when it happens! The life that we have been given is evident in the life that we hold onto...

"While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source to eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 5:7-10) NLT