So He became their Savior. In all their troubles, He was troubled, too. (Isaiah 63:8,9 The Message)
Troubles
I stood in the grocery store staring at the pasta section. The pasta section had no pasta. I had planned a meal that centered around pasta, because pasta is always available. But the pasta section had no pasta. I was even willing to buy weird pasta, maybe kale-based, or gluten-free, or organically-produced. But the pasta section had no pasta.
I was more angry at the grocery store than I had a right to be, maybe. I was over-reacting to the pasta shortage, perhaps. I was not in the dire straits I thought I was, most likely.
But my frustration slipped away when a family stood next to me for a moment. Mom uttered, “what? No pasta?” An elderly man, his cart full of tasty treats approached the empty pasta shelves and shook his head in disappointment. An employee, filling a cart for a virtual customer stood and gaped for a moment… then clicked something on her keypad and walked away.
And somehow, I felt a little better.
Isaiah is considering the troubles of God’s people. Worse than no pasta. Worse than high gas prices. Worse than offensive television shows. Worse than poor politics.
Isaiah offers comfort to God’s people. He writes that God’s people do not suffer alone. The Messiah, the Christ to come, suffers alongside us.
If community grocery shortages of pasta can ease my heart, how much more does the knowledge that the Messiah, my Savior, my very God chose to suffer the troubles justly due to me, right alongside me. Sometimes even suffering instead of me.
He only does that for His beloved people.
We are peculiar, our troubles are shared.