But he took our suffering on him and felt our pain for us. We saw his suffering. We thought God was punishing him. But he was wounded for the wrong things we did. He was crushed for the evil things we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to him. And we are healed because of his wounds. We all have wandered away like sheep. Each of us has gone his own way. But the Lord has put on him the punishment for all the evil we have done. Isaiah 53:4-6 NIV

Christians from all over the world have recently marked the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My dear husband also blessed us with his exposition on the cross: For Real. Therefore it was somewhat surprising that I found myself drifting into Isaiah 53, where we get an accurate depiction of the life, humiliation, suffering and finally, the exaltation of Christ. Wondering why God will highlight these short verses to me, I couldn’t help but realise that there’s some richness in these verses God wants to pour into us. This passage draws attention to the intimate relationship God desires with His children.

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He answered, “The Father is the one who sets the fixed dates and the times of their fulfilment. You are not permitted to know the timing of all that he has prepared by his own authority. But I promise you this—the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will be filled with power. And you will be my messengers to Jerusalem, throughout Judea, the distant provinces even to the remotest places on earth!” Acts 1:7-8 TPT

God is such an awesome and good Father who doesn’t raise microwave leaders. He loves us too much to see us fail because He wants glory out of our lives. He usually develops and encounters us in our secret place to unction us for transformation and empowerment by His Spirit for our leadership assignment. When He publicly displays us, it presents an opportunity for people around us to receive all that He has deposited in us. God does not desire His children to rush into public ministry when He hasn’t anointed them to handle the pressures that come with it.

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The hymn, ‘Hark, my soul, it is the Lord’ by William Cowper has held a special place in my heart from my childhood, and it was no surprise that when I started writing this message, I was drawn to the third and fourth verses, which goes like this:

³ Can a woman’s tender care, cease towards the child she bare? Yes, she may forgetful be, yet will I remember thee.

⁴ Mine is an unchanging love, higher than the heights above, deeper than the depths beneath, free and faithful, strong as death.

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