He has been there!

This has been an interesting week.  I have spent extended periods talking with several friends that are facing some difficult times.  Work related, personal challenges, and interpersonal situations.  In each case the individual expressed serious fears.  During my reading the other morning I just “happened” to read a quote from Max Lucado which really spoke to me and I am passing it on.

“Jesus has been there.  He experienced ‘all the pain, all the testing’ (Hebrews 2:18 MSG).  Jesus was angry enough to purge the temple, hungry enough to eat raw grain, distraught enough to weep in public, fun loving enough to be called a drunkard, winsome enough to attract kids, weary enough to sleep in a storm-bounced boat, poor enough to sleep on dirt and borrow a coin for a sermon illustration, radical enough to get kicked out of town, responsible enough to care for his mother, tempted enough to know the smell of Satan, and fearful enough to sweat blood.”

“But why?  Why would heaven’s finest Son endure earth’s toughest pain?  So you would know that ‘he is able…to run to the cry of…those who are being tempted and tested and tried”

“Whatever you are facing, he knows how you feel.”  (Max Lucado)

 Those are truths that I also need indelibly planted in my mind and heart each day.  I trust that this is an encouragement as well as a challenge for each of us to fully trust Him with each situation that we may be facing.

Love to you all,

Chuck