Isaiah 53:4-5 KJV
(4)  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
(5)  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Till the recent movie, “The Nativity Story”, I knew there was a journey made by Jesus’ parents to Bethlehem, but I didn’t realize how far and difficult it actually was.  Over 92 miles were walked by Joseph with Mary riding along on a donkey-not really first class either. Then, the road from Bethlehem to their next destination in Egypt would be close to 350 miles across the desert. It seems that for those closest to Jesus there was a need to take on some of the most difficult challenges to be a part of helping Him to arrive and then reach His ultimate destination. Jesus Himself demonstrated this necessary capacity to endure and suffer long for the sake of a prize that was considered great enough for His eventual passage through death itself.

There definitely isn’t a guaranteed first-class seating on the way to our home in heaven. Just because we have been given His name and His ability to conquer, overcome and rise above any situation, it doesn’t mean that we get clear passage around life’s bumps and mishaps. To get there might take a bit of extended endurance and perseverance. What makes it more than doable, though, is that the One who conquered all of it, including death, actually went through all He endured for our sake, so that He could reside in us and ensure our safe passage. Our hearts were His true destination, with Bethlehem, the cross, and the tomb as just interim arrivals.

As we pass through another Christmas season to a new year with uncertainty and definite challenges before us, there is a significant comfort and reassurance as to our successful passage knowing that the One who endured and conquered all is living on the inside. We don’t have to go through anything that is beyond His ability in us. If He endured so much more than we could even comprehend on His journey to our hearts, we will be way more than able to triumph at every interim destination on our journey to heaven knowing that He is leading as long as we follow. Whatever we’re going through, we have within us the One who specializes in destinations. Going through and getting there has been guaranteed by all He’s gone through for us.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 at 7:04 am and is filed under Confidence, Encouragement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.