No way out, but through...

A friend with several children told me that during her first experience with childbirth, she was sure she was going to die and was resigned to it.  The second time, she knew she wouldn’t die and wished she could.  As a pregnant woman nears the time of labor and delivery, she realizes there is no way out of the experience except through it.  There is going to be pain, but she choses to look beyond that to the joy of a newborn baby she will hold and love.  If she focused too much on the experience of birth or on the work of raising that sweet little child, it would be frightening and overwhelming.

I wonder if women understand better than men do what Christ must have felt as he looked forward to the cross and then beyond it.  We know that he agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It is recorded in Luke 22:44 that he struggled so that “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”  He pleaded that if it was in the Father’s will, he could be spared what he knew lay ahead.  His picture of what he would endure was very clear.  Because he was with the Father from the beginning, he was part of the planning of this horrible event, and completely understood its necessity.

But, just as a woman looks beyond the painful experience to the joyful one…for the joy set before him (he) endured the cross, scorning its shame…(Hebrews 12:2).

We can imagine only a tiny portion of what Christ must have endured.  His pain was not just physical.  The anguish of bearing the sins of all of us is beyond our capacity to understand.  But He knew the joy on the other side.  He knew his oneness with the Father would be restored and that he was purchasing joy and reunion for all of us.

As we are confronted with various types of trouble and pain in this life, we can be thankful for a Savior who understands and who endured.

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Since there is no way out but through, let us keep our eyes on Jesus.