John 3:16

New week in Perth. New lecture topic- Repentance and forgiveness. I've heard from other YWAMers, and staff that this third week, and this topic is the most difficult, intense, and uncomfortable topic to hear about and to put in effect. I reckon it will be a week full of hurt, yet break through. It's only Tuesday, but I can already tell it will be an interesting week. We've been talking a lot about sin, and how much it not only effects ourselves, those around us, but most importantly Jesus. In last night's lecture I got a grasp of how much pain we put our Father in when we sin, big or small. I've only felt overwhelmed, and thought about God's pain in a real way once, and it was when I watched The Passion of Christ. I remember sitting there being in shock, thinking how in the world would, or could someone take on that much physical pain.

In last night's lecture we were told a story to try and get our heads wrapped around the idea--

There was a family, a mom, dad, little boy, about 5 years old. One day the mother told the young boy that they were going to the grandparent's house. The little boy was excited, like most children who know they are going to see their grandparents. The father placed them on the bus and sent them off. You'll probably agree, but young kids know when something is wrong, their little spirits can tell if a person is happy, sad, or angry just by standing next to a person. The young boy could tell something was wrong with his mother. He reckoned it was because they had just said goodbye to his father. The young boy said to his mom, 'It's okay mama, daddy will meet with us soon.' It was then did the little boy's mom break down, and told the young boy, that they wouldn't be seeing daddy anytime soon because daddy found a new family. Abandonment & Rejection-pain.

In later years the boy had problems with his feet, he had cleft feet. When he was 8 years old he had severe surgery to try and fix his cleft feet, which left him with metal spikes/stilts. After surgery, the boy woke up, slightly confused where he was, didn't know what was going on. He was thirsty. Without knowing what were in his feet he got out of the bed and slid off the bed to walk to get a glass of water. The spikes/stilts were pushed into his freshly surgical feet.

Wounded & Scarred-pain.

We all winced at the story, but I know my heart winced when we were asked, 'Sure, the boy had never felt so much physical pain before in his life, but which pain do you reckon he would have rather endured over and over again?'

I don't think we could ever fathom the kind of physical pain Jesus went through during the crucifixion, which left Him wounded and scarred. Better yet, I don't think we fathom the kind of pain which leaves Him feeling rejected and abandoned, which He endures when we stray away from Him, when we chose the world over Him, when we turn our backs on Him, and when we sin.

Ask yourself, which pain do you think He would rather endure over and over again?