I Know How It Feels

I Know How It Feels (by Tim Klink of Prison Discipleship Ministry)

Hebrews 4:15 

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 

While He walked upon the earth among men, Jesus experienced everything we experience as humans other than sin. He was homeless, He was abandoned, He was betrayed, He was rejected and mocked, He was the victim of the misuse of legal power, He experienced pain beyond anything you or I will ever endure, and He did it all without sinning. Why did He endure such hardship when He had every resource available to Him from God the Father to deliver Him from the situation? He suffered all things so He could identify with you and me and be a Comfort in the time of our need. The greatest comfort that a person can receive when going through a crisis is to have someone come along side who has been through the same thing and come out victorious. Jesus is truly the only One who can come along side of us in every situation we find ourselves in, and proclaim, “I know how it feels.”

When Jesus became sin in our place, He experienced sin to a depth that we will never know. He willingly took the wrath of God upon Himself and paid the price demanded by the holiness and justice of God for the sins of all mankind. When we are burdened down with the consequences of our sin, Jesus is the only One who can say, “I know how it feels more than you ever will.” When we think that God is angry with us, or that He hates us, Jesus draws near to comfort us by being the Forgiver of those sins.

When the shadow of death begins to appear, it is only Jesus who can calm the fear of the unknown. It is only Jesus who waits just beyond our sight, letting us know that He has travelled the road before us, and because He has gone ahead of us all fear has been silenced. A brief departing from this earthly life is only the gateway to an eternity in the presence of the One who “knows how it feels” because He has been there, and has made a way for us to follow.

Trust the One who “knows how it feels,” instead of the one who brings doubt and fear. Let Jesus lead you through life because He is the only One who knows.