It's amazing what comes to mind years after the fact. 11th grade, I puked all over my desk and then sat there like "now what do I do?". You know, 11th grade, like "I can never come back to school ever again". Across the room was the kid with the reputation. Earrings, ripped t-shirt, chains hanging from his belt loops, labeled a "troublemaker". Anyway, didn't he get up and walk to the sink and bring a pile of paper towels right in the middle of the teacher's lecture. I will never forget him. In days when I struggle to find little bits of kindness in the world I remember that the person who was despised and rejected gave me the greatest gift that day.
What an amazing reminder of what Jesus does for all of us. We are covered in filth and stench and the people around us have turned the other way. But, Jesus.
Isaiah 53:2 "He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no stately form or majesty to attract us,
no beauty that we should desire Him.
3He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
Like one from whom men hide their faces,
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
4Surely He took on our infirmities
and carried our sorrows;.
5But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed."
