This is true joy in life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
~George Bernard Shaw
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of My people? And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the righteous one, My servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
~ The Death of Jesus, The King of The Universe, foretold in Isaiah 53
Oh beloved, it is true.
There is something that we absolutely have to believe, before we understand that Jesus died for us. Jesus Christ of Nazareth had zero desire to die. He was (and is, and will be) Life Itself. And, what this Author of Life did was to set His face towards Jerusalem to do something that was completely UN-supernatural for Him.
But, beloved, He did it anyway. Jesus walked straight into the jaws of death for us. Now, of course we now understand that His walking into the jaws was not for His own destruction. Rather, we see that Jesus wrenched the jaws closing around Him right out of their sockets. He crushed death in His dying. And this has made all the difference for all of us.
Now, all throughout The Word we find that in putting our trust in Jesus, some pretty amazing things happen. We are drawn down through that death, into His Life. We are raised with Him that death would never have dominion over us.
However, the being raised to eternal life does not mean that we are done suffering. No. Actually, now that we are indestructible, we are now set to actually get into situations that are a lot like what Jesus did for us.
Said more simply: we may need to die (figuratively or literally) that others might be healed.
What Jesus did, and what our lives might need to do is to create a space where something wonderful can happen. What happens is analogous to what happens when metal is soldered. In soldering, the craftsman uses a material called ‘flux’ to clean the area that is about to be bonded together. Without the flux, the two metals might not bond under heat, and even if they do, the contaminants will compromise the strength of the bond.
When the flux works properly, it is burned up. But, in being vaporized, it cleans the surfaces and creates a perfect environment for the two metals to bond.
Can we see it?
You and this fool of a writer may find ourselves in situations where we are about to be burned up. However, if we are discerning, we may find that the destruction of our lives or our situation may actually be setting others up for great success.
Now, just like Jesus had no desire for His Life to be crushed, there is no reason for us to desire it either. However, just like Jesus, our desires can and should also be overwhelmed by our Love for others. We might just need to get burned up, that others might get to where they need to go.
So, are you feeling like maybe your life is about to be destroyed? Fear not, you really are indestructible in The Spirit. However, your natural life might need to be used as a flux that others might be healed or made better.
Tonight is your night. Time to be willing to be used up.
My mama always used to tell me: ‘If you can’t find somethin’ to live for, you best find somethin’ to die for.’
~Tupac Shakur
