Jesus Understands Your Suffering (EP 207)

Summary

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The Bryce Crawford Podcast

Episode 207: Jesus Understands Your Suffering
Release Date: July 10, 2026
Host: Bryce Crawford

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Episode Overview

In this heartfelt episode, Bryce Crawford reflects on the profound theme that Jesus, known as the “suffering servant,” truly understands human pain, struggle, and suffering. Drawing from personal experience, Christian scripture, and historical context, Bryce encourages listeners not to fixate solely on suffering, but to also recognize Christ’s compassion, empathy, and redemptive power. Listeners are invited to see their pain through the lens of Christ’s suffering, and find hope, gratitude, and joy in knowing that Jesus journeys with us in every circumstance.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Struggle and the Tendency to Fixate on Pain

• [00:57 – 02:22]
  • Bryce shares a personal realization: in past years, when asked about his Christian life, he was prone to “only highlight the suffering... only highlighted the turmoil... the hardship... the pain” and overlooked the mercy and provision of God.
  • He notes, “We would be ignorant to neglect your pain, ignorant to neglect your suffering... but we also cannot neglect the mercy and the gratitude and the saving that we receive from our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2. The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 52 & 53

• [02:33 – 03:52]
  • Bryce dives into Isaiah 52–53, which prophetically describes Jesus as the suffering servant, emphasizing verses like,
    • “‘His appearance was so marred beyond human resemblance... He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows... He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.’”
  • Bryce highlights how Jesus’ suffering was foretold centuries before his birth, reinforcing the idea that Christ deeply understands human agony.

3. Relating Personal Pain to Christ’s Suffering

• [03:52 – 05:48]
  • Bryce vulnerably shares his own battles with depression, anxiety, people-pleasing, and temptation.
  • He challenges listeners:
    • “It is easy to hyper fixate on the pain and suffering and to forget... the mercy and majesty of Christ and the work that he’s done.”
    • Jesus is the ultimate example of suffering:
      • “The Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head, the same people who were laying palm leaves at His feet... saying, yeah, crucify that man a week later... He who knew no sin became sin.”
    • The focus should not remain stuck in suffering, because Jesus is the solution.

4. Jesus as Our Example: 1 Peter 2

• [06:32 – 07:26]
  • Citing 1 Peter 2:21–25, Bryce emphasizes the call to follow Christ’s example in suffering:
    • “‘Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his footsteps... When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly... By his wounds you have been healed.’”
  • The passage reminds listeners that Christ “bore our sins in his body on the tree,” inviting us to return “to the shepherd and overseer of [our] souls.”

5. Rejoicing with Christ in Suffering

• [07:29 – 09:46]
  • Bryce reassures listeners:
    • “God is not abandoning you in your pain.”
    • “If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, that’s because you're not looking at Him, because He is the light.”
  • A crucial insight: We are called to “rejoice with Christ in suffering,” as “there is a profound beauty and majesty to Christ in understanding Him in the pain... because we have a God who relates to us.”
  • He encourages turning our pain into praise:
    • “If your pain is deeper, then our praise should be louder. If your suffering is increasing, our voices should increase with thanksgiving to God.”

6. Memorable Quote – Charles Spurgeon

• [09:46]
  • Bryce offers a quote from Spurgeon:
    • “Grief cannot spoil the melody of our praise because He is the light in the tunnel.” (Bryce Crawford, quoting Charles Spurgeon)

7. Walking Through the Valley

• [10:04 – 10:07, 11:41]
  • Echoing Psalm 23: “Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil, for He is with us.”
  • Bryce challenges the common phrase, "the teacher is silent during the test," disagreeing by emphasizing,
    • “The promise is He is with us in the pain. He’s experienced the pain on the cross.”

8. Remembering God’s Deliverance & Faithfulness

• [12:17 – 13:52]
  • Bryce urges against robbing Jesus of the purpose and glory of the cross by focusing solely on pain.
  • He shares about Israel’s cycles of doubt and remembrance in the Old Testament, saying,
    • “God has pulled through for us before, so He’s going to pull through again, if not with more power, because that’s His character.”

9. Prayer of Gratitude and Hope

• [13:57 – End]
  • The episode closes with a prayer thanking God for his presence in suffering, for deliverance, and for the opportunity to know Christ more deeply through pain:
    • “Lord Jesus, we thank you for delivering us through suffering... But we give you all the glory and praise. And our life is a testimony to continuously pour glory and praise on you in Jesus name, Amen.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “I only highlighted the suffering... and there was a lack of voice for me saying, yeah, and also the mercy and provision of God.”
  — Bryce Crawford ([01:55])

• “We can look to a God who could relate to his creation because He has suffered. He has borne our sin on the cross.”
  — Bryce Crawford ([07:46])

• “If you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, that’s because you’re not looking at Him, because He is the light.”
  — Bryce Crawford ([07:49])

• “If your pain is deeper, then our praise should be louder. If your suffering is increasing, our voices should increase with thanksgiving to God.”
  — Bryce Crawford ([09:30])

• “Grief cannot spoil the melody of our praise because He is the light in the tunnel.”
  — Charles Spurgeon, quoted by Bryce Crawford ([09:46])

• “We fear no evil, for He is with us.”
  — Bryce Crawford ([11:41])

• “He doesn’t abandon you, He doesn’t forsake you in the pain.”
  — Bryce Crawford ([13:55])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------------------|-------------| | Introduction and theme of suffering & gratitude | 00:57–02:22 | | Isaiah 52–53: The Suffering Servant | 02:33–03:52 | | Personal struggles and application to Jesus’ suffering | 03:52–05:48 | | 1 Peter 2: Jesus as our example | 06:32–07:26 | | Rejoicing and God’s presence in pain | 07:29–09:46 | | Spurgeon quote and musical analogy | 09:46 | | Psalm 23 reference | 10:04–11:41 | | God’s faithfulness and the example of Israel | 12:55–13:52 | | Closing prayer | 13:57–end |

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Tone & Delivery

Bryce’s approach throughout this episode is deeply empathetic, vulnerable, and pastoral. He shares honestly from his own life, intertwines scripture, and challenges listeners to adopt a posture of gratitude and praise even in the midst of suffering, always centering the hope and nearness found in Christ.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is a powerful encouragement that, as believers, suffering is not ignored or denied—but finds its deepest meaning in the suffering of Christ, who understands, redeems, and walks with us. We are called to remember both pain and provision, to look up to Jesus as the light at the end of every tunnel, and to let our praise be made louder even when grief and hardship arise.

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Transcript

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[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

What's going on, guys?

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Carver Podcast. I'm Bryce, and today I'm honestly really excited about this episode because I woke up and this was immediately on my heart. I felt like the phrase I heard this morning was the suffering servant. And the reason why I feel like I heard this phrase was because I was in a devotional this morning and the idea came along. And so I want to phrase this question to you. When someone asks you about your Christian life, what do you say? And if you're not a Christian, when someone asks you about your life, what do you say? I mean, typically when I remember reading this, I was thinking, man, the first few years of my life, when someone would ask me what it was like being a Christian, I only highlighted the suffering. I only highlighted the turmoil. I only highlighted the hardship. I only highlighted the pain. And there was a lack of

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

voice

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

for me saying, yeah, and also the mercy and provision of God where he has done a new and good thing in my life. And I'm grateful. I tend, I oftentimes, a few years

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

ago would forget that and I would only highlight the pain. And so that's what I want to talk about today is that although yes,

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

we would be ignorant to neglect your pain, ignorant to neglect your suffering, ignorant

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

to neglect your circumstance, we all also

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

cannot neglect the mercy and the gratitude and the saving that we receive from our Lord Jesus Christ, we can't neglect it.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

And that's why I want to talk

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

about the suffering servant himself. I would highly encourage you to go look at Isaiah 52 and 53, I mean, Isaiah 52 and 53, mind blowingly is one of my favorite passages of scripture of all time. I mean, hold on, I, I, I'll just, I'll flip there really quick because I think, I think it's important. And 700 years before Jesus is born, the prophet Isaiah, which is arguably the most respected Old Testament prophet, he prophesies Jesus, verse 13 of Isaiah 52, behold my servant Shia wisely, he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you. His appearance was so marred beyond human resemblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him. I mean, he was beaten so bad he didn't even look like a human. For he grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him, stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

And with his wounds we are healed. You see, it's interesting because oftentimes when we reflect on our life, someone asks us or we think about life, it is easy to hyper fixate on the pain. I understand it, I get it. I don't know what it's like to walk in your shoes, so I'll just share mine. Like I had depression and anxiety for years. I was a people pleaser. I struggled with pornography. I struggle with so many different things. I understand it. And even now, being tempted or if I stumble in some form or fashion, it can be easy to hyper fixate on the pain and the suffering and to forget of the mercy and majesty of Christ and the work that he's done. Like we have to understand the suffering servant himself. I mean, he knew. What does Jesus say? Hey, if the world hates you, remember it hated me first. So it's inevitable that we'll experience pain. It is inevitable. It said the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head, that the same people who were laying palm leaves at his feet the week later were saying, yeah, crucify that man. They changed their minds about him. But what else does the Bible say? He who knew no sin became sin. So that you and I could become the righteousness of God. We hyper fixate on the suffering as if there is no solution. Yet he is the solution. The one who emptied himself, poured himself out for us is the solution. And we forget that we hear the name of Jesus. We hear the gospel. Yeah, I grown up in church, Bryce. Or I go to private Christian school or oh, I listen to Christian podcasts or I read a devotional every month or I go to church every Sunday. And we forget the beauty of the cross that the worst recorded human suffering in all of history was for the sake of our soul so that we could be redeemed. Hey, real quick, before we keep going,

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

I have an announcement I've been really excited to make. I'm officially announcing our ministry's biggest live event ever, Open Heaven. It's happening Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 7:30pm at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. This is going to be a night centered around worship, faith and genuine community. All of us together in one room, encountering God in person. There's going to be live worship and really special moments throughout the night. Tickets are on sale right now. Head to Bryce crawford.org tour or click the link in the description below to grab yours. And please only buy through my official site or that link. Do not buy from random resellers online. A lot of them are scams. I genuinely believe this is going to be a night people carry with them for a long time. I would love to see you there. All right, back to the episode.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

I mean, I love this passage. I want to flip to 1st Peter 2 because this passage is so powerful. Verse 21 for to this you have been called us because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sin sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep, but

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

have now returned to the shepherd and

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

overseer of your souls.

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

God is not abandoning you in your pain. There are so many instances in my life that I have felt alone, ashamed. I felt like I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

And the beauty about rejoicing with Christ

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

in the suffering of your life or my life.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

When we rejoice with Christ in the Suffering. If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, that's because you're not looking at him, because he is the light. We can look to a God who has suffered. We can look to a God who could relate to his creation because he has suffered. He has borne our sin on the cross. He did not threaten people because he was suffering like the scripture said. I mean, he took on sin on the cross so that we could know him, so that there could be a light at the end of the tunnel so that he could set the example. He took it on for us to pay the price. We can't lose sight of that. It's so easy to lose sight of that in the midst of our suffering because we're so hyper fixated on the pain. Maybe one of the reasons why you can't see the light, which is Jesus at the end of the tunnel, is because you're not looking up at Him. You're looking down at your problems. You're looking down at your pain. Rightfully and understandable. I can get it. And at the same time, his mercy and provision gets us out. We don't have to be alone. You can't just rejoice with Jesus in the resurrection and not rejoice with him in the suffering. In fact, arguably, I would say that there is a profound beauty and majesty to Christ in understanding him in the pain, more so than there is in the resurrection, because we have a God who relates to us. We have a God who understands us. And so instead of singing a song of pain, he gives us a new song to sing. He gives us a new song of hope. He gives us a new song of joy. He gives us a new song of gratitude. He gives us a new song of freedom because of what he has done on the cross. If your pain is going, if your pain is deeper, then our praise should be louder. If your suffering is increasing, our voices should increase with thanksgiving to God. And I love this phrase from Charles Spurgeon.

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

Charles Spurgeon once said, grief cannot spoil the melody of our praise. Grief cannot spoil the melody of your praise because he is the light in the tunnel.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

Even though we walk through the valley

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

of the shadow of death.

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[Bryce Carver (Host)]

We fear no evil, for he is with us. I have such a problem with this phrase. There's such a popular phrase online. I see it all the time on TikTok where people are like, hey, if you're going through a hard time right now, just know that the teacher is silent during the test. And I had such a problem with that. A couple reasons. Number one, we say he's silent, but we have the word of God. But secondly, the promise is he is with us in the pain. He's experienced the pain on the cross.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

He has bore our sin on his body on that tree, so much so

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

that we may find freedom.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

We can't lose sight of Him. We can't lose sight of the suffering servant. Because if we do and we focus on the pain, we rob Jesus of the purpose of the cross. We rob him of his glory. We strip him of his glory.

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

And I don't want to do that. And I know you don't want to do that. We have to stay in this place where we remain knowing and understanding.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

He is the light. It is his mercy he is providing. Because so often we get in it. We get into pain, we get into

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

suffering and we get so hyper fixated

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

on it and then we forget time and time again, God has safely delivered us out of the pain before. Like if I was sitting here constantly hyper fixating on the depression and anxiety

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

that I dealt with before I was

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

a believer, many of you might be like, well, Bryce, but you've, you've been delivered from that. He has brought you through that. Or maybe there's things that he's currently bringing you through. We cannot forget that. He doesn't just bury you in pain that he can't set you free from. He delivers us through it safely and securely. Doesn't mean it's going to be easy. But do not forget the moments you've been set free. That's why I love the way that the nation of Israel thought in the Old Testament, yeah, they would worship a golden image like 500 times and you

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

would have thought they would have learned

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

after the second time, but they would get in a bind again and they would say, you know what? God has pulled through for us before, so he's going to pull through again,

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

if not with more power, because that's his character.

[Bryce Carver (Co-host or Guest)]

He doesn't abandon you, he doesn't forsake

[Bryce Carver (Host)]

you in the pain. But we can't just hyper fixate on the pain again. We are not neglecting your story, the things you've been through, the experiences you've had, and the shoes that you have to walk in or have walked in every day. But if we only focus on that, it is easy to lose sight of Jesus. So I want to pray for us really quickly that we don't lose sight of him now. We thank God for delivering us. We thank God for his life. Lord Jesus, we thank you for delivering us through suffering. God, we understand that suffering is inevitable. It's essential to character development. But God, we rejoice with you in suffering. We get to know you deeper in pain in such a beautiful, profound way. Lord, we thank you for delivering us and keeping us safe and secure. God, would you be with us, guide us and protect us? Lord, you are the suffering servant. And typically people that suffer in this life don't get the glory. But we give you all the glory and praise. And our life is a testimony to continuously pour glory and praise on you in Jesus name, Amen.