PAINFUL TRIALS

i was dispatched to a residence and the only information I had received was that a woman caller needed to see a trooper. As I entered the living room, a woman and a teenage boy sat somberly on the sofa. Neither said a word to me. The woman motioned toward the kitchen. I cautiously entered to find a man lying in a large pool of blood. Repeated stab marks on his face, chest, and arms, as well as the extensive amount of blood all over the kitchen floor and spattered on the walls and ceiling, caused me to quickly realize that he was dead. I learned that the son had come home for lunch and sat at the table with his dad. Immediately, the father pulled out a current telephone bill and began screaming and swearing at the boy about the vast number of calls he had made. Feeling that he could not longer take the berating and threats from his father,the son picked up a large butcher knife from the counter and repeatedly plunged it into his father's body, twenty-two times. The subsequent trial was very emotional and painful for so many; the son, the wife who was the mother of this boy, the attorney's, the judge, and me, The son was found guilty and then escorted from the courtroom as his mother began to sob. She had not only lost her only child, but her husband as well. It was not an easy case for anyone and it was obvious that the images and painful trial would be etched in our minds for many years.

Those in law enforcement,1st responders, the military, and firefighters, are not exempt from trials, often many with significant consequences. Even as Believers, we experience trials of all kinds. John 16:33 reminds us, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world." The most significant trial in history is when Jesus was brought before Pilot and found to be guilty of a crime He never committed. No evidence was ever available, because there was none. He still suffered a cruel and vicious death by hanging on the cross. "Then he, (pilot) released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified." Matthew 27:26. "He could have saved Himself but He willingly accepted the penalty we all deserve. As a result, the price of our sinfulness has been paid in full. On the Day of Judgment, Jesus, who has been given all judgment by God, will say to His Father in Heaven, that all who knew Jesus will be forgiven because of the sacrifice He made. "For Christ died for sins once for all. The righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."1 Peter 3:18.

"The cross is proof of both the immense love of God and the profound wickedness of sin."

John MacArthur, pastor/author

It was Christ who willingly went to the cross and it was our sins that put Him there."

Franklin Graham, evangelist,missionary

Isaiah 53:3-5, Luke 23:33, Romans 8:32

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