Recently, I’ve had two epiphanies: they are elementary level axioms of the Gospel of Christ (stuff I should know well, but need to be reminded of often.)

Wed morning, Feb. 18th, my daughter, Macy, had knee surgery. The next day, we had her follow-up appt with her surgeon. Getting her from our house to the dr’s office was nothing short of torture: emotionally & physically for Macy; emotionally for me.

As she wailed, and cried out, “Daddy….!”, I began to cry because there was not a single thing i could do about her pain. (Nothing is more painful for a parent than to see their children hurting…)

The dr told us all was good, and helped us develop an effective strategy for managing the pain. By the time we finally got home, allowing me to lay Macy back down, we were both exhausted. it felt as though we had just climbed Mt. Rainer.

As I watched my girl sleep and rest, two very profound gospel truths came to mind:

1) I would’ve done anything to take Macy’s pain upon myself. Alas, I could not. (You see where this is going don’t you. 🙂 ) God “heard the cry of mankind (which began one nano-second after Adam & Eve blew it in Eden), and did for us what I could not do for Macy. “For God so loved the world (us), that He gave His one and only begotten Son…..” The mighty, awesome, terrifying God “put skin on”; He lived a perfect life.  And, even though tempted by Satan to “bypass the pain of the cross,” Christ “booked a ticket” straight from the Bethlehem to Calvary. I couldn’t do anything for Macy in way of taking her pain upon myself. Christ could take our pain upon Himself. And did! Soli Deo Gloria!

2) The succeeding days gave me & my daughter a number of “moments” to understand that “pain is part of healing.” The dr told us, even in the midst of overwhelming pain, Macy was well on her way to being well. Obviously, at least in the Watts home, this led to conversations about the death of Jordan, and how our pain from losing our son/brother is a necessary part of healing. We *must go through” the pain; there’s no way around it.  I think of Paul writing this sage advice to young Timothy: “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:3) Jesus demonstrated this truth by refusing to give in to the tempter (Matt 4 & Luke 4), knowing that the only path to the resurrection was through the crucifixion.

O God, my God – thank you….thank you….

If you’ve never met Him, please consider investigating the claims of Christ. smile emoticon

I love you all, Nick Watts