“Yet it was the LORD’S will to crush him and cause him to suffer… he will see his offspring…and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.” Isaiah 53:10

Without the hope of Christ and His promises, my family may have thrown in the towel, so to speak, on the difficult year we all recently experienced. The loss, heartache, and disappointments of life can become too much to bear.

We have a Savior who is no stranger to pain. He “was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (v. 3). Jesus was literally “crushed” for the sin of mankind and endured the most intense physical and spiritual pain on our behalf. When it looked like darkness had won, Jesus was victorious over sin and death!

We now live in the “already” and “not yet” of Christ’s ultimate victory. He defeated the enemy on the cross already, so we know the outcome. But His kingdom has yet to be fully completed in our sinful and rebellious world. Take heart that Christ is the ultimate conqueror over death. Our world—even as majestic as it is in its natural beauty— will be restored as God intended it to be. Suffering was not the end of Jesus’ story, and it’s not the end of yours either.

Insight: Praise God for Christ’s victory on the cross and ask Him to fill you with hope of all things being made new upon Christ’s return!