Theme:   Five Things I Don't Want to Miss this Christmas

This eDevotional was written by a volunteer from Timberlake Church. 

Read:   John 11:17-36

Think:  Sometimes, people just don’t get what we’re going through.  It’s not difficult understand why this is.  If you haven’t experienced something yourself, you can’t truly know what it’s like.  I have many loving friends, but most have not experienced the daily grind of raising a disabled child as my wife and I have.  Similarly, I’ve never had a substance-abuser in my family, so I don’t get what that’s like.  Sympathy is a great thing, but somehow empathy – which comes from living through the same challenge – provides a deeper basis for providing comfort and support. 

As Pastor Nick pointed out on Sunday, because of the incarnation, God has empathy for humanity.  God understands the pain we experience as human beings not only because He created us in His image, but because He actually has experienced life as a man.  In the person of Jesus, God entered into the world He created, and lived in it.  The gospels record Jesus being hungry, thirsty, tired, and discouraged.  In John 11, Jesus is moved to tears over the death of His friend Lazarus.  Jesus was misunderstood and mistreated.  He was tempted like each of us is tempted.  We sometimes see God as the all-powerful creator and ruler of the cosmos – and He is.  But He also knows what it is to be human.

The reality of this hit home for me at a time I was particularly down, angry about my daughter’s seizures.  I found myself snarling a question at God: “do you have any idea what it’s like to watch your innocent child suffer?”  The answer was clear - yes.  God knew my suffering because He had lived it, too.  Because of the miracle of the incarnation we celebrate at Christmas, God has empathy for us.  He gets it.

Do:  Ask God your own question by completing the following: ‘God, do you know what it’s like ________________ ?’ 

Pray:  Lord, I don’t have much trouble thinking of You as all-knowing.  But it’s harder for me to understand that You are all-feeling, too.  I am grateful for the life Jesus lived here as a man, not only for the salvation it has brought for me, but also because it means You really understand me.  Amen.