Wednesday, April 5, 2023
All Part of God’s Plan
“For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9 NLT)
Though Jesus mentioned many times that He would rise from the dead, it never seemed to penetrate the minds and hearts of His disciples.
After all, the crucifixion left them dumbfounded. They didn’t know what to do. They weren’t sure where they should go or what they should do. And when they heard that Jesus was alive, it came as a surprise to them.
Mark’s Gospel says, “Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead” (8:31 NLT).
The disciples couldn’t wrap their minds around the idea that the crucifixion was part of God’s plan. How could something like that be a good thing? How could all that suffering and sacrifice have any value? But it was through Jesus’ death that life came.
Jesus was saying, “I’m in control. I know it sounds radical when I say that I will suffer and die. But I’m also saying that I will rise again. This is part of the plan. I know what I’m doing.”
This is what God says to us as well. There are times in our lives as Christians when we may not understand what God is doing. Why did He allow this thing to happen? Why did He allow those problems? Why did He allow that tragedy? And why hasn’t He intervened?
It is hard to know why sometimes. But Jesus is saying, “I’m in control. I know what I’m doing.”
The absolute truth for every Christian is that whatever you give up to follow Jesus will be more than made up to you in this life and in the life to come. It will be worth it all.
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