“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” (RSV).
I have always loved pictures of Jesus meeting with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration prior to his final days leading up to the cross. I seemingly have painted a pretty picture of this meeting, relatively harmless and spiritually edifying. But this morning I realize that my understanding was more of a childlike bedtime story. God loaned His heavenly saints to Jesus to prepare Him for the suffering that would be His. The Bible is silent on that sacred conversation between Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. But I guarantee God wanted extra encouragement for Jesus to help Him understand that what was getting ready to occur was both the will and way to bring Jesus home as well as saving humanity. Fully knowing that His son was getting ready to unimaginably suffer, He sent His finest messengers to strengthen Him...encourage Him...most likely sharing unknown things with Him. I’ve never thought about the word transfiguration in any other way than a positive light. Don’t get me wrong by that inference because with transfiguration comes the glory of God. However, I discovered today that transfiguration always includes suffering.
“The idea of transfiguration follows very naturally and logically from acceptance, gratitude, and offering. If we receive the things that God wants to give us, if we thank Him for them and if we make those things an offering back to God, then this is what’s going to happen – transfiguration.” Suffering is Never for Nothing,Elisabeth Elliot, p.93. This brings me to my original point. Glory follows suffering when we accept the things we have in our lives that we don’t want and accept the things we don’t have in our lives that we desire. Hopefully acceptance breeds gratitude for God walking us through it all, and we begin to offer our testimonies for the encouragement and benefit of others. What follows our offering is God’s glory in us, through us, and surrounding us. The three parts of suffering that will bring glory to God and God’s glory to us is acceptance, gratitude, and offering.
“If your faith rests in your idea of how God is supposed to answer your prayers, then that kind of faith is very shaky and is bound to be demolished when the storms of life hit. But if your faith rests on the character of Him who is the eternal I AM, then that kind of faith is rugged and will endure” p. 93.
Jesus embodied the words of Isaiah 58:10-11 as an example of how we can triumphally walk through this life as an example for our circle of influence. As we pour ourselves out from our suffering for the sake of helping others get through their suffering, we reflect the face of Jesus.
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