The More Difficult

Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB

Consider your own life. When a relationship goes sour, when the feelings of futility come flooding in, when we can’t sort out our emotions, when the longtime friend lets us down, when we feel deeply misunderstood, 

in short, when the fallenness of the world closes in on us and makes us want to throw in the towel—there, right there, we have a Friend who knows exactly what such testing feels like, and sits close to us, embraces us. Jesus Christ. 

And I know it can be our tendency to feel that the more difficult life gets, the more alone we are. As we sink further into pain, we sink further into perceived isolation. The Bible corrects us. God. Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit. He is with us. Our pain never outstrips what He Himself shares in. No, we are never alone. 

Joshua 1:9 NET I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the LORD your God, am with you in all you do.”

Our only hope is that the One who shares in all our pain shares in it as the pure and holy One. Jesus Christ is not the one who needs rescue He provides it. This is why we can go to Him to “receive mercy and find grace”. He Himself is not trapped in the pit of sin with us; He alone can pull us out. 

He is all that is all that will be, He is eternity.  

What elicits tenderness from Jesus is not the severity of the sin but whether we, the sinner, come to Him. Whatever our offense.