Despised

He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:3-5

I am so thankful that it is Friday. I have been just gobbling up opportunities to be thankful for RAD things left and right this week and I'm tired. I am honestly thankful that I get to teach my children the good, important, essential, and eternal things in life, things that some of them have missed out on for their first several years. I enjoy teaching these truths to my children, but I will not sugar coat the reality of it - it is hard, and much more so when the children come to a family with an antagonistic view of family, parents and authority. Yes, I hear ALL.THE.TIME. from sweet, well-meaning parents of kiddos without attachment disorders that all children reject their parents and most often think their parents are mean, especially when their parents are training and challenging them to do right. However, I was adopted as an infant, well-attached to my parents, and though I likely resisted their discipline at times, I always wanted to please and honor them. I loved my parents, and ultimately I knew in my heart that their discipline was for my good and I respected them for it. I live with some RAD kiddos who fall on the direct opposite side of that coin.

At the end of most days I would like to erase a few key phrases from my mind that I have heard screamed at me over and over. While I live in the truth of God's Word, the intensity and consistency of the RAD attitude leaves me in a very lonely place: despised and rejected by the children that I love fiercely. This love has already cost me one precious child. I cling to God's sufficiency for me when the daily attacks and loss seem too great.

What a comfort to know that Christ knows my sorrows in this deep rejection! He lived my rejection...literally a rejection on the cross when he bore my sins and God turned His face away. Not only this, but Christ, though deserving of Holy esteem, was despised as the crowd chose a murderer to be freed in place of Him. He was despised as they screamed "Crucify him!" Oh the sorrow and the grief! So many lost people that He loved fiercely who chose to despise and reject Him! He knows my sorrow and is intimately acquainted with my grief. There is sweet comfort for me in this. And in all of His sorrow and grief, His wounds were for my transgressions. While I am desperately reaching out to my children's hearts, I see that He was crushed for the iniquities of my own heart.

But this is not the end. His punishment on the cross bearing my sin allows me to have a right relationship with my Heavenly Father and allows me to have peace, even in the midst of hard times. It is by His wounds on the cross that I can be healed from these daily hurts and freed to love my children fiercely as I wait on God to work in their hearts and draw them to Himself.