Today we celebrate Good Friday. I was pondering on that earlier this week. We call this Good Friday because we celebrate the day Jesus went to the cross and died for us.
I want you to think about that for a moment today, we call this day Good Friday. It was definitely good for us – but was it good for everyone? Let me ask that question another way, did it appear (in the physical eye) good for everyone? It wasn’t good for Jesus, at least not from a natural perspective. It wasn’t good for his disciples, we read about that in the Bible. It wasn’t good for his Mom and his family – yet we call it Good Friday. Why? Because the outcome of that terrible day (in the natural view) was Good, hence, Good Friday.
Now, we know from the scriptures, spiritually speaking that it was good for Jesus and for God. Good for Jesus because he was doing the will of the Father. Good for God because he had a son that loved him so much that he was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to save the people of God from their sin and the consequences of that sin, to reconcile us back to God and back to a relationship with God.
What didn’t appear so great at the moment turned out to be more than great!
The Bible says; for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18
We see this very scripture come to life in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
So it is with us. It is to us that the word of God says ‘for I know the sufferings you are going through right now can’t compare to the amount of glory God will reveal in your life.’
It’s all in your perspective, the way you see what you are going through. Hebrews 12:1-2 says; Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus kept his eyes on the ‘joy set before him’ while he hung on that cross, that joy was doing the will of the Father, pleasing the heart of the Father and you and I. He kept his eyes on that the entire time. He did not look at the beating, the scourging, the nails, or even the people crying beneath him – he looked at one thing – the joy set before him.
We have to do the same thing. We can’t look at the natural, we have to see with the eyes of faith and see the joy, the glory set before us as well. I know this is not easy – I was reminded of this Monday night of this week.
Something happened with one of my grandchildren and they were hurt, I watched it happen, as did Breanne, but we were powerless to stop it. It shook us both to the core. For a period of time, my spiritual vision and what I know to be true of the word of God was blinded by the glare of what my physical eyes were seeing. It took me an entire day to work past it and realize that she was okay. What I saw happen would not allow my natural mind to know God was bigger. It was an odd experience for me. I had to keep reminding myself of the word of God and the God I serve.
Therefore I know it is not always easy to see past what you physically see. I am a faith-filled, spirit filled, person who knows the God I serve, yet for a period of time I was blinded by what my physical eyes saw. I had to shake it off and you have to do the same thing.
Whatever you are going through – this day – of all days – remember Jesus who for the JOY SET BEFORE him, endured the cross. Remember, there is joy set before you today too, there is glory after the suffering. You serve a God who cannot lie and will do all He has promised you. He will not disappoint you. He will not fail you. He will not.
Today, I say to you – don’t allow your spiritual vision to be blinded by the glare of what you physically see today – look beyond – to the glory of it all – to the joy set before you – to the place of rich fulfillment and rejoice! Because of Jesus, we have all that available to us…all that and more! Thank you God for Jesus! We celebrate Him this day!
