Daily Devotional for Sunday, February 8

Jesus’ Troubled Soul

“Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour,” John 12:27

Empathy is feeling your pain in my heart. For twenty-eight years I ministered to the sick and suffering of the churches I pastored. I believe pastors should visit hospitals, attend surgeries, be found at nursing homes and funeral parlors, where suffering people need to feel the love God. Although I had ministered to many suffering people, I could not truly say I knew how they felt. At the age of forty-eight, I had never been sick. Never was I a patient in a hospital, underwent a surgery, suffered in any significant way. I could not honestly say to the suffering, “I know how you feel.”  All that was to change on May 7, 2009, when I heard my doctor say the most feared words in the human language, “You have cancer.” After four surgeries, sixty-nine radiation treatments, seven rounds of chemotherapy and losing forty pounds, I was able to pursue ministry with an understanding not previously held. This suffering had made me a better, more empathetic pastor able to feel the pain of others, having suffered myself.

            Jesus felt the pain of a troubled soul as He approached the suffering of the cross. While you or I may not be able to relate to another’s suffering, Jesus has suffered in every way a human being possibly can (Isaiah 53:3; Hebrews 4:15). Study the life of Jesus and you will find He suffered fatigue, pain of all kinds including mental and emotional, He bled when He was cut, He cried and He mourned.

            Before you conclude that no one understands your pain, remember that Jesus is the caring Savior who alone knows how you feel. Let His Holy Spirit be your comfort and your consolation. He feels your pain in His heart.

CONSIDER THIS

True Christianity requires us to bear burdens that do not belong to us (Galatians 6:2).

John Nations