If we are united to Christ, we are united to “a man of sorrows, … acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). We are united to a suffering servant. How could we expect not to suffer if we are united to one who suffered so much? The Bible dares to say of Christ that “he learned obedience through what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). If God’s own Son, who was perfect, had to learn obedience through what he suffered, how much more necessary must it be for us to learn to trust God through what we suffer? Jesus reminds us, “A servant is not greater than his master” (John 15:20). Pain and suffering were not just
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