God Suffered First (#183 of 365+)

The other day I heard a Christian radio program about one of the latest troubling teen trends on the rise: Cutting. Statistics indicate self-injury among teen boys and girls is now more common than
eating disorders. An editor of a teen magazine read a letter from one cutter. I don’t have an exact quote but the girl explained she liked to cut herself was because she felt as if hell was inside her and this was the only way she could release the torment.

According to an article about cutting I found on the Focus on the Family website, a high percentage of cutting behavior results when there’s a dysfunctional family environment and/or a history of sexual or physical abuse. A teen cutter may feel many of the following emotions: Hopeless, abandoned, afraid, isolated, misunderstood, judged, unaccepted, rejected, ignored, unheard, overly responsible, overwhelmed, unloved, punished, and hated.

Experiencing any type of pain, grief, or loss is simply the cold, hard facts of life in a fallen world. It’s natural to rail against our struggle in any way we can but there’s a much better way to deal with them than through self-destructive methods like cutting, eating disorders, and substance abuse. God isn’t a mythical Greek god in the clouds who can’t relate to our troubles. He became familiar with everything about being human, including all those feelings I listed in the previous paragraph, by becoming one of us. He was abandoned by his best friends, accused of being in cahoots with the devil, rejected by man, sentenced to die, and tortured to death.

“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’—which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Mark 15:34)

As a Christian believer sometimes I forget how easy my life is compared to the lives of hundreds of brothers and sisters around the world who are literally dying for the faith. In times like this week leading up to Good Friday I’m reminded afresh how much Jesus actually suffered for all of us, died, and then victoriously rose from the dead. Even if we feel there’s no one we can trust or turn to, we can know that our Living Savior understands completely and he has the power to help us through anything. With him on our side we can endure in “the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10).

“A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master” (Matthew 10:24-25)

After speaking about her many physical infirmities and the peace of God which has flooded over her during the most difficult moments of her life Joni said, “Should we suffer? A servant is never above his master. What a privilege it is to be like our teacher… even in affliction.”

Lord, as Joni prayed I also pray that my first response won’t be to resist hardship but to find complete comfort in you. Thank you for being willing to suffer for me on the cross and with me in this life whenever I have a dark hour of need. Master, help me to be strong and bring glory to your name. Amen.