He Knows

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are ~ yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15 (New International Version)

Recently, I took comfort in the words of author Henri Nouwen. As I read the following words I could tell he KNEW how I felt. After the demise of a deeply satisfying friendship he wrote, “Intellectually I knew that no human friendship could fulfill the deepest longing of my heart. I knew that only God could give me what I desired. I knew that I had been set on a road where nobody could walk with me but Jesus. But all this knowledge didn’t help me in my pain.” He went on to warn about two extremes to avoid in the midst of pain, “Being completely absorbed in your pain and being distracted by so many things you stay far away from the wound you want to heal.” I drank in his words because he had been where I am at and I finally felt someone understood! It is through his personal hurts, agony, and sorrow that he can so eloquently address mine. Although he no longer lives in this world, his books are strengthening and comforting me as so few people seem to be able to do.

This is the same picture I need to get of Jesus. He can sympathize with me. He understands even better than Henri Nouwen how I feel. He knew heartache, abandonment, and rejection in far greater ways than I will ever experience, and yet He will not treat my circumstance as unimportant. He has healing for me and knows I have yet to fully experience it. He sees the times I try to anesthetize the pain with more relationships, more activities, even more intake of Scripture. He knows the search that seems to yield so few results. He knows the struggle I have to implement what well meaning people advise. He knows how easily I want to hide or deny my own thoughts and feelings. He knows the times my spirit and my shoulders slump in hopelessness. But He also knows none of this is the end of the story. He already knows the day truth will finally set me free.

For now, I hold on to the hope, hand, and robe of my High Priest who identifies with me and upholds me. As one song so aptly states it, “His strength is perfect when our strength is gone.” He continues to whisper His reminders to me and listens as I whisper my thoughts back to Him. In the aloneness of every day life, He is my constant Companion and Confidante.

Father, may You speak to and touch the deepest parts of me. Amen.