Jesus Knows and Cares

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

This statement by Jesus to the weary is the most welcoming and uplifting invitation that has ever been uttered.  Do not people seek to be free of worry, anxiety, and the guilt of sin?  To the people of Jesus’ day, the burdens laid upon them by the religious leaders had become extremely complicated and over-taxing, and to some, probably confusing.  Surely, some of them might have reasoned, there must be another way to be right with God.  The Christian life is not about following a set of rules and regulations, it’s about living a life that is pleasing to God and about a relationship with the only One who can help folks live this life of righteousness and holiness.  Jesus makes its simple:  come to Him, and He will give us rest, that is, peace within our souls, no inner or outer conflict, no worrying or fretting, and, best of all, relief from the guilt of sin.

However, Jesus doesn’t just care about our spiritual needs, but our physical needs and problems as well.  I heard a statement on television a few years ago from a news commentator who was quoting an unknown author.  He said, “Everyone that you know is facing a battle that you know nothing about”.  That is so true.  I know about some battles that friends are facing so it stands to reason that there are many that I don’t know about.  Most people don’t like to divulge every burden that they are carrying, although there are some completely transparent folks who will tell you every gory detail of drama in their family and circle of friends.  Sometimes these are the ones whom you wish would keep some things to themselves!  There have been times in Sunday School during the time of prayer requests that some would give so much detail to the situation that some of us would almost tune them out.  It would sound like a soap opera.  God does want us to be specific when we pray but too much information is too much information.  There was one time when I was leading the prayer request time, and one lady was going on and on, and one of the men in the class silently signaled me to get her to wrap it up.  I didn’t really know how to do that without making her think that we didn’t consider her request important, so I just let her continue.  Jesus is patient and desires that we lay those yokes upon Him regardless of how lengthy or burdensome they are.  We have some big problems, but we have a big God!

There is a saying that you have probably heard:  “We are either coming out of a storm, are in a storm now, or are headed into a storm.”  I have written many times that no one gets through life unscathed, particularly believers in Jesus Christ.  Why is that?  Some folks think that if they are committed to Christ, then they shouldn’t have any problems, but that is not what scripture teaches.  Since Jesus was sinless and suffered, what makes any of His followers think that there is not some suffering to endure along the road to glory?  Going through difficult days gives us spiritual insight and causes us to grow closer to the Lord.  If a believer never had to go through trials and testing, how would they grow in their faith?  If children were never tested in school, how would the teachers and parents know if they were progressing in their education?  Suffering is not an enjoyable time in our lives but is necessary to develop our relationship with the Lord.  He knows what it is like to suffer, thus He can sympathize with us and give aid and comfort.

I don’t know what you all are struggling with at this time, but Jesus does.  If anyone had cause to be depressed and anxious, it was Christ.  He was mocked, misunderstood, slandered, cursed, had only a handful of friends that He could trust, and even some of them deserted Him at a most crucial moment.  He was betrayed by one in His inner circle, arrested, falsely accused, tried in a “kangaroo” court, sinless yet found guilty, was executed, and died for the crimes that all of us committed.  However, He knew that His Father would bring Him safely home, and that all He endured would result in bringing pardon to many.

Our struggles won’t last forever.  If we are depending on Christ, He will help us in our time of need.  He may not change our situation, but He will change us to be an overcomer.  And then one day, He will bring us safely home.  If God cares about little birds, He certainly cares about us (Matthew 10:29-31).