The Upper Room Daily Devotional from Nashville, Tennessee, United States “NEVER ALONE” for Tuesday, 2 August 2016 with Scripture: Isaiah 53:1-6

The Upper Room Daily Devotional from Nashville, Tennessee, United States “NEVER ALONE” for Tuesday, 2 August 2016 with Scripture: Isaiah 53:1 Who believes our report?
To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed?
2 For before him he grew up like a young plant,
like a root out of dry ground.
He was not well-formed or especially handsome;
we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us.
3 People despised and avoided him,
a man of pains, well acquainted with illness.
Like someone from whom people turn their faces,
he was despised; we did not value him.
4 In fact, it was our diseases he bore,
our pains from which he suffered;
yet we regarded him as punished,
stricken and afflicted by God.
5 But he was wounded because of our crimes,
crushed because of our sins;
the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him,
and by his bruises* we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, went astray;
we turned, each one, to his own way;
yet Adonai laid on him
the guilt of all of us.
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He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.[Isaiah 53:4 (NIV)]
When my daughter was in the fifth grade, she was diagnosed with scoliosis (a sideways curvature of the spine). She was fitted for a hard plastic back brace, which she had to wear at all times. Often she would wake up at night crying in pain. When I talked to the doctor, he said that scoliosis does not cause the kind of pain my daughter was experiencing. We did not know what to make of her complaints or understand the severity of her pain.
Several years later I was diagnosed with cervical stenosis and degenerative disc disease. It was not until I was dealing with my own pain that I was able to understand my daughter’s pain and apologize to her for not understanding her suffering.
Just as I was able to better understand my daughter’s pain because of my own, I am strengthened knowing that God understands my pain because God was wrapped in human flesh. Jesus therefore understands our suffering, grief, and loss. In all our trials, our Savior is with us. When others are suffering, we can share the good news that we do not go through it alone. Our God suffers with us.
The Author: Jacqui Rose-Tucker (Georgia, USA) — See p. 21.
Thought for the Day: How do I recognize the presence of God in my pain?
Prayer: Gracious God, help us to identify with others and to seek to be Christ to those who are suffering. Remind us that you are with us through every trial. Amen.
Prayer focus: THOSE WITH SPINAL DISEASE

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