learning obedience through suffering???

woke up this morning without a headache, amazing, considering the last two days my headache was a constant companion..
picked up my Bible and read the passage assigned for this week..
heard from my God and poured out my heart to Him...



one verse stood out for me:

Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. (Hebrews 5: 8)


wow.. so God's Son, Jesus, the One that gave His life for me, the One I am trying to follow, He had to learn obedience through suffering?

never thought of this like this before..so I, through Jesus' obedience by believing in His sacrifice for my sins have become a child of God, through my suffering, though nothing compared to Jesus' also will learn obedience through it... hmmmmm

great sermon today.. about living as a witness.. extending His love to those around us, the marginalized, entering into the lives of those we minister to, giving up our own rights, investing all of ourselves into their lives, by that know them better and earn the right to speak the Gospel into their lives in a meaningful way... absorbing their sins and struggles... wow... being in it for the long haul...accepting suffering so that the gates of hell could be pushed back..

that's what it is.. this is why I am here, this is where we all need to be...
rather than getting stuck in legitimate sorrow and pain, inflicted by someone else's sin, or brought on by myself through disobedience, I need to take my eyes off myself again, realizing the tremendous privilege of being the hands and feet and smile and hug of Jesus to the people in my life..

rather than focusing on what I do not have, the man to respect and honor and love and to be cherished and loved by... I need to thank God each day for how I can be at work for Him..

I needed the reminder, badly, and there it was, in His Word, for me, today..

putting lotion on my tattoo on my foot this morning, as every morning, it made me sing:

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path... when I feel afraid, think I've lost my way, still, you're there right beside me, nothing will I fear, as long as you are near; please be near me to the end....

I know He will, be there for me, until the end.. (same scripture as yesterday.. how cool!!!)

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”