The God Who Hurts When We Hurt, Can Heal Our Hearts

The same Jesus who died for us two thousand years ago, now lives for us. The grave could not hold the Son of God. The Life-Giver triumphed over death. He broke the shackles of the tomb. He is risen. He is alive. He “ever liveth to make intercession” for us (HEBREWS 7:25, KJV). 2 He understands what we are going through. He once walked in our footsteps. He understands poverty, rejection, ridicule, mockery, pain, suffering, and death. When we hurt, He hurts. When we are in pain, He is in pain too. When we suffer, He suffers too.

The prophet Isaiah cries out, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (ISAIAH 53:4, NKJV). The prophet then adds, “In all their affliction, He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old” (ISAIAH 63:9, NKJV).

God is not immune to our suffering. When our hearts are broken, His heart is broken too. His tears are often mingled with ours.

Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God (EDUCATION, P. 263).

It is reassuring to know that we are not alone in our pain. It is comforting to know that Someone understands what we are experiencing. But to really get through life’s toughest times, we need more than sympathy—we need strength. It is one thing to believe that Christ understands what we are going through, it is quite another thing to receive His power to get through it. There are numerous promises in the Bible that give us confidence that Christ is there in the moments of our deepest sorrow to enable us to get through life’s difficult moments. Here are two of my favorites.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (HEBREWS 4:14–16, NKJV).

Jesus is there to help in all our times of need. He is not a God who stands at a distance watching from the stratosphere as we suffer. He is there in the context of our suffering, supporting, strengthening, and sustaining us. Where is God when we suffer? Let’s allow Him to respond through the prophet Isaiah:

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (ISAIAH 41:10, NKJV).

The Bible does not promise that life will always be fair. It does promise that God understands the cruel blows that sometimes strike us and He will be there to shield us from their crushing pain. The Bible does not promise we will never shed any tears. It does promise He will be there to weep with us and comfort us in our sorrow. The Bible does not promise we will always understand why we suffer. It does promise He will never leave us or forsake us.

The Word of God invites us to fix our eyes not on the problem but on the One who can solve the problem. His invitation is clear, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (MATTHEW 11:28) . Here is a gem from the little book Steps to Christ:

"Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. “The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3. The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son" (STEPS TO CHRIST, P. 100).

A change of focus

Here is a key principle in getting through suffering. Change your focus. If your thoughts are dominated by why something happened to you, you will be perplexed. It is possible there are no good answers. If you allow your thoughts to be dominated by the injustice of it all, you will be crushed. You will continue in pain for years. You will not heal.

But if you open your heart to receive a “peace . . . which surpasses all understanding,” if you choose to trust when you cannot fully understand, if you fix your mind on receiving His comfort, an inner peace will gradually fill your soul (PHILIPPIANS 4:7, NKJV) . His healing grace will give you a new purpose for living. The scars of the past will heal as you place your trust in the One whose hands were scarred for you. There must come a point in the context of our suffering where we do not have to understand it all. We do not have to be able to figure everything out. We are able to live with unanswered questions in a rock-solid faith in the One we can fully trust.

The wonder of living lives committed to Jesus is that in spite of the trials we face, He gives us an indescribable inner sense of contentment.

We live in the absolute assurance that one day all the perplexing questions of life will be answered and evil will be gone forever. We can face the future with confidence because it is bright with the promises of God.