My late pastor often went on mission to Italy in the early to mid 1950’s, when there were very poor living conditions in the rural areas. Conditions were such that there was no running water.. people did their bathing and washing from a creek. There were no toilet utilities.. I suppose they dug a hole in the ground, or releaved themselves in a dishpan full of water, which they emptied into a wooded area.

My pastor noticed a group of young boys playing near a puddle.. He went to pat one of the boys on the head, when , repulsed, he withdrew his hand from this boy’s head.. as his head was totally crawling with lice. Then our Lord spoke to my pastor. “Son, are you offended in me?” These conditions you find in this little village are the same poor conditions I lived through in Nazareth”. My pastor then understood far more than before just how much Jesus endured on a daily basis throughout His childhood up to the day of His unfair humiliating death.

I am sure that even through the daily trials, Jesus offered all up to the Father for the good of His children. Never in the scriptures , do we hear Jesus complain about His own sufferings.. In fact, there was a day when He was on the verge of discouragement. He then prayed, “What shall I say, Father , save Me from this hour?.. NO!!, For this hour I have come!” Father, glorify Thy name” and the Father actually audibally replied, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again”.

I also recall in the 1990’s, when complaining out loud about eating a soggy submarine sandwich in my cold car one day.. and saying out loud, “Jesus woud never have eaten this crap , even in Nazareth!”… and before I could get the word, “Nazareth” out of my mouth, the Lord telepathically interrupted me, and gently replied back, “I ate worse than that”.

Opening blindly His recorded words in “He and I”, He gave me this:

“…Don’t be surprised at having to suffer for Me or at being tested and tried for My sake. These are records to be filled out for eternity. You take your place in the sacrifice for which the crown is prepared. You play your part in the unfinished symphony of My passion. Love these last sufferings; they are a part of your travel wardrobe. the most ordinary sufferings – heat, insects, unforseen mishaps, petty annoyances that you offer Me in expiation- are part of the harvest of the Autumn of your life in this ever marvelous springtime of love..”