July 16, 2026

Daily Devotional:

“The Beautiful, Broken Plan”

Isaiah 53:10

"But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands."

At first glance, this phrase feels deeply unsettling. How could a loving Father find pleasure in the crushing and agonizing grief of His own Son? The answer doesn't lie in a sadistic delight in suffering, but in what that sufferingaccomplished. God's pleasure wasn't in the pain of the cross; it was in the purpose of the cross. The bruising of Jesus was the exact price required to redeem a broken humanity. The Father's ultimate plan succeeded. Because of the cross, the "pleasure of the Lord"—the reconciliation of lost children back to their Father—is actively prospering in the hands of our living Savior.

When we go through seasons of crushing, pain, or grief, it rarely feels like a "good plan." We naturally equate goodness with comfort, success, and ease. Yet, Isaiah pulls back the curtain on the spiritual reality of thecrucifixion to show us that the ultimate act of suffering in human history was not a tragic accident, a political mishap, or a failure on God's part. It was His intentional design. Why? Because our sin had created a debt we could never pay, and a separation we could never bridge. Out of pure, relentless love, the Father purposed to crush His own Son so that we would never have to the crushing weight of eternal separation from Him. Jesus willingly took our grief so we could receive His joy. But the beauty of God's plan is that life came out of death. It is incredibly comforting to know that God can take the absolute worst event in history and weave it into His "good plan." If God could take the execution ofHis Innocent Son and turn it into the salvation of the world, what makes you think He can't redeem the broken pieces of your life today? The disappointments, the grief, and the seasons where you feel absolutely crushed are not outside of His reach. He specializes in turning graves into gardens.

Think about a time when you had to endure a painful, difficult process because you knew the outcome would be worth it. Maybe it was a demanding season of study, a physical rehabilitation, or a difficult conversation to restore a relationship.