It Had to Happen
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Day Five - Passion Week Devotions — FRIDAY
It Had to Happen
“What if your pain… is part of God’s plan?”
Jesus didn’t avoid the cross…
He embraced it.
Not because it felt good…
but because it was necessary.
What looked like defeat…
was actually victory.
What looked like loss…
was actually purpose.
And here’s the hard truth:
Some things in your life…
had to happen.
Not because God wanted to hurt you…
but because He’s working through it.
So here’s the question:
Will you trust God…
even when it hurts?
What looked like defeat was actually divine fulfillment.
Isaiah 53:5 (NLT)
“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins…”
John 19:30 (NLT)
“It is finished.”
Jesus is arrested, beaten, mocked, and ultimately crucified. This moment, though horrific, was not random—it was prophetic.
Centuries earlier, Isaiah described the suffering Messiah in vivid detail. Every wound, every rejection, every drop of blood fulfilled what God had already spoken.
When Jesus declares, “It is finished,” He is not expressing defeat—He is announcing completion. The debt of sin has been paid. The assignment has been fulfilled. Redemption has been secured.
The cross was not an interruption—it was the plan.
This is where our understanding is challenged.
We often rebuke what God has ordained.
We resist what God is using.
Pain is not always punishment—
sometimes it is purpose.
The cross was brutal…
but it was necessary.
And just like Jesus, there are moments in our lives that don’t make sense:
Seasons of loss
Moments of betrayal
Unexpected suffering
And we ask, “Why?”
But the cross teaches us a deeper truth:
God can use what looks like defeat to accomplish divine purpose.
Some things in your life… had to happen.
Not everything was sent by God—
but God will use everything.
Your pain is not wasted when it’s surrendered.
Your story is not broken when it’s in God’s hands.
So shift your question:
Stop asking: “Why me?”
Start asking: “What is God producing through this?”
Because what felt like the end…
may actually be the beginning of what God promised.
Jesus, thank You for the cross. Thank You for choosing obedience over comfort and purpose over pain. Help me trust You even when I don’t understand what I’m going through. Redeem every broken place in my life. Use my story for Your glory. Strengthen my faith to believe that You are working—even in my hardest moments. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Follow the One who gave everything for you.
Walk in surrender. Grow in obedience.
Trust Him not only in the good—but in the hard places.
Join the journey with Ekklesia Christian Life Ministries.
LoveUmorethanUknow
Pastor Stephän Kirby
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