Suggested Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, John 12:27-36
Senior year of college was one of the most difficult periods of my life. It was the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, my thesis was going horribly, I kept getting daily rejections for future graduate assistantships for my master’s program, and I faced a whole assortment of other personal problems. I loathed my life then, thinking every day that I was nothing more than a failure in the sight of God. One day, I had lunch with my pastor for some advice. He asked me to consider what would happen to me if my thesis ended up not working out, or if I never ended up getting an assistantship, or if those personal problems never fully resolved. All those things could crumble, but no matter how much I failed or struggled, the hope I have in Christ supersedes all of that, and none of these failures could ever separate me from God’s love. Afterward, some of those issues worked themselves out, while others worsened into harder problems. That conversation rings in my ear to this day, and I look back at that time humbled by God’s abundant mercies during both my suffering and the peaceful times that followed.
The fear of pain and suffering overwhelms all of us. Yet, the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that life operates in seasons. For every birth, there is a death. For every celebration, there is mourning. We cannot fully appreciate life without both. The Deuteronomy passage exemplifies this, showing how the celebration of the land with milk and honey for the Israelites is only sweet when they consider God’s mercy through the harshness and cruelty they endured in Egypt. Most importantly, Jesus felt troubled as he foretold what was to come of Him. He knew of the betrayal, abandonment, false accusations, mockery, rejection, torture, and death coming His way, which would make any of us despair. Yet, He double downed in His suffering for our sake, and through His endurance, He defeated death and now sits at the right hand of the Father in glory.
This Lenten season, bring your troubles to Christ. If anyone truly understands suffering in this world, it is Jesus. Embrace your despair because it is in that where hope abides and blossoms. Finally, remember that out of pain and misery comes glory and peace, for the inheritance of the poor in spirit is the Kingdom of God.
Ryan Yoakum
