Friday, July 31, 2009

"I KNOW..."

July 31, 2009

What is the first thing a child does when he gets hurt? Looks around for a parent, grandparent, or caregiver to run to and cry. When our children were younger some days they would return home from school, look for Sheila or me and burst out crying. He fell and scraped his knee. She was called a name. He was left out of a group. She was not invited to a party.

Do you know what they needed? To be enveloped in some big arms and to hear, “I KNOW… I know it hurts. I know what you’re going through. I know it is unfair. I know it makes you feel sad, alone, different.”

They did not need answers. Oh, they would need to talk it through later and get answers to go forward, but in that moment they needed someone to identify with their feelings and emotionally respond. They needed to know that someone bigger, who loved them dearly, could assure them it would be okay. They needed to know they were not alone. They needed to know someone else “knew” their hurt and hurt with them. They needed to know that someone will help see them through. They needed to hear, “I KNOW…”

That is one of the reasons the Bible tells us we need to become like little children, because when we face hurt we need to know the same thing. If we “act like adults,” pretending that life does not hurt, then it bottles up on us and we end up angry and depressed. In reality, we have the same needs as little children – God created us that way. We can “grow up” after we deal with this stuff.

Around 95 AD, the Christians in the church at Smyrna are going through incredible pain. They had been persecuted, their property confiscated or destroyed, slandered for their loyalty to Jesus, facing more pain and possibly death, feeling like they were less than others. They were coming into the house of God hurt and confused. What did they need? They didn’t need answers, they needed to hear “I KNOW…” from someone bigger than it all.

In the letter from Heaven that Jesus dictated while He appeared to the Apostle John, He did exactly that.

Revelation 2:9 (NIV) I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Jesus wraps His arms around His children and tells them “I KNOW…”

We all get hurt. Life delivers pain to us with frustrating regularity. No one is exempt. What do you need, what do I need during those times? We don’t need answers right away, though eventually we will so we can go forward.

- We need to be enveloped in some big arms and to hear, “I KNOW… I know it hurts. I know what you’re going through. I know it is unfair. I know it makes you feel sad, alone, different.”
- We need someone to identify with our feelings and emotionally respond.
- We need to know that someone bigger than us, someone who loves us dearly can assure us it will be okay.
- We need to know we are not alone.
- We need to know someone else “knows” our hurt and hurts with us.
- We need to know that Someone will see us through.

And TODAY Jesus will do that for you if you run to Him. It is most often through another of His children – Jesus’ arms holding us through the flesh and blood arms of a human being. Sometimes it comes through His Word, prayer, or worship. But you can be ABSOLUTELY sure that if you run home to Him, He will be there with arms outstretched, tears in His eyes as you weep, saying “I KNOW… I KNOW…”


Boldly, Herb

(To listen to Herb via the internet at http://www.newsongpittsburgh.org/sermons.htm )