Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Suffering...

SUFFERING

“They will go around in great pain and will become so hungry that they will try to find help on Earth and in Heaven.   They will find only trouble and darkness, terrible trouble and deepest darkness”, said the Lord to Isaiah.
Isaiah 8: 21-22
When contemplating suffering
              That dreaded thing that
Haunts our dreams,
Cloaks our world with despair,
And can occupy our every thought;

When contemplating suffering
Our hearts throb with fatigue,
Our heads spin uncontrollably,
Our fight or flight instincts take hold of us;

When contemplating suffering
I, like Paul the scholar,
And like Isaiah the prophet,
Have hope of a day when it will end.

Suffering will continue to exist in the broken world.

BUT
God has a plan to end it.
His plan is fail safe,
Perfect and made with immense love.

God planned Jesus His only Son to come
To save us from sin and darkness.
Jesus came, died and rose again,
Jesus our Lord, Saviour and God’s beloved Son.
And one day he will come again to finish what he started,
Restoring this broken world, our relationship with God,
And ending suffering forever.

But those who have suffered will no longer be in pain. Those who have walked in the dark have seen a great light.    And it shines upon everyone who lives in the land of the shadow of death.  Our Lord, you have made our nation stronger.  Because of you, its people are glad and celebrate!  .  .  .  You have broken the power of those who abused and enslaved your people.  You have rescued them.

Isaiah 9: 1-4