Unfinished Faith: Relearning God.

Week 14: The part of Easter I’d rather skip:

The bit where I introduce:  

In my reflection of Easter this year, I admit I love the empty tomb, the language of Victory, hope and new life but if I’m honest I don’t linger long enough to ask what it cost. Maybe the truth is we are more comfortable celebrating resurrection than we are at sitting with what came before it.

The cross confronts us with something we would not rather face; that Jesus didn’t avoid suffering, and sometimes He doesn’t remove it from us either. He allows hard things in our lives too. Jesus didn’t bypass pain… he redeems (to buy back, rescue, or set someone free from slavery/sin by paying a price) it. Easter refuses to separate the two, it quietly insists resurrection doesn’t come instead of the cross…it comes through it.

The bit where I refer to the bible: and ask a few rhetorical questions:

Isaiah 53:5 says: “He was pierced for our transgressions…the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” (read the whole chapter if you can, one before and after)

In my research on Isaiah 53 and its broader context, it’s understood that the prophet Isaiah lived more than 700 years before the time of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53 presents a portrayal of a figure often described as a “suffering servant,” whose experiences have been compared by many readers to the later accounts of Jesus’ death.

While the passage doesn’t explicitly describe crucifixion as it came to be practiced centuries later, it does contain vivid language about suffering, rejection, and death that some interpret as aligning closely with the narratives of the Gospels later on. The idea of a suffering or rejected Messiah appears to differ from many common expectations in ancient Judaism, where the Messiah was often envisioned as a victorious deliverer.

Isaiah 53 itself opens with a sense of surprise or disbelief “Who has believed our message?” AKA ” What the heck are we to believe here?

In all that Jesus endured on the cross the injustice, the abandonment, the physical agony, and even the silence from heaven it was through these that salvation was brought about.

It made me wonder, the parts of our life where we have too felt suffering, waiting and disappointment, not on Jesus’s scale thankfully we see them as interruptions or inconvenient disruptions to our “nice, safe life.” Considering what he went through, that seems a bit short-sighted.

But if I was to reframe my thinking what if those painful places aren’t interruptions or inconveniences?

What if in fact like the cross, those suffering chapters is where God does his deepest work.

I’m going to say this slightly controversial statement I’ve honed over my short life (my opinion only- NOT fact.)

I believe not all pain is purposeful, but none of it is wasted in God’s plan.

In that sense, my belief is suffering may not always have an immediate or obvious purpose, but it is never outside of God’s ability to redeem (rescue or set free). He does not waste it, He weaves it into a larger story of restoration, shaping our hearts, deepening our faith, and ultimately pointing toward transformation in us.

It means laying down the version of your story you wanted for the one He is writing. Let that sink in… not my will…but yours. Are you willing to shout that in your prayers or quiet times? Even it means pain and or suffering? Most of the time, I’m not willing!

Jesus suffering, his agonising death is where our Hope is anchored. It was the turning point of everything! It wasn’t the end of the story…what looked like loss and defeat was in fact pivotal to everything changing, for the good.

I am in a place right now that feels heavy, it’s confusing to say the least and dare I say costly at times. This Easter gone reminded me though not to be too quick to rush out of the uncomfortable (I can’t believe I’m saying it too).

 Resurrection in my own sense of the word is coming…but sometimes it begins in the very place I wish I could escape.

The bit where you get to think about stuff: Questions for the week.

Have you unknowingly equated God’s goodness with comfort, how does the cross challenge that?

Where in your life are you resisting the process because it feels too painful?

If Jesus is doing a deeper work through this season of yours, what might He be forming in you that could not be shaped any other way?