Isaiah 53: The punishment on Christ for our sins

Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:4-6 NIV)

I am trying to spend time in the daily verse my YouVersion bible app has. I am amazed how encouraging a short verse can be to start off my day.

Remembering the work and pain of Christ on the cross is something I have been trying to do everyday. I want to remember the amazing grace and love of Christ. I want to focus my heart on gratitude for Christ bearing our suffering and punishment. From there I hope I will be more humble and loving of others. I pray I would lay down my plans and demands as Christ did in order to be a light for Christ!

After talking to my mom about why God allows so much suffering my only answer is Jesus and the gospel. The gospel says God is not far off and he is not an angry God. He is not a little kid with a magnifying glass making us suffer. Jesus is the ultimate expression of God being close and intimate. Jesus walks with us in the pain and loss. Jesus bore our suffering.

The significance of Christ being fully God and fully man and what that means for us is summarized well in Hebrews:

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
(Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV)

That is my prayer God for myself and my mom and the world. I pray we would not respond to suffering in fear and anger at you God. I pray instead we would approach your throne of grace with humility and confidence to ask for help. For our high priest knows our pain and our temptations. He feels the sorrow with us. Yet I also pray we would trust in our provider God not in the provision. Set our hopes on you God and your kingdom not on anything in this world.
Amen