Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Last week, we began considering how well Jesus deals with our fears and tears. Certainly our concerns about the future of our families, churches, and nation are often heavy, and Jesus shows us that we must depend upon Him in these weighty matters. He also demonstrates that the reality of death cannot be ignored, for He wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35). As we studied Saturday, shared sorrows can draw us closer together. A further explanation of this truth is found in II Corinthians 1:3-5. In our struggles, we find that our God is indeed “the God of all comfort” (verse 3); He truly does care and provide help. Because He Himself has shed tears, we know that He really understands and comes alongside to comfort us. We also can follow His perfect example and provide aid to others (verse 4). A Christian friend of mine had a couple of children with serious disabilities. She was on friendly terms with a neighbor. That relationship deepened when the neighbor’s daughter was injured in an accident and disabled. Over time, that sorrowing mother also became a Christian. My friend’s “sufferings” (verse 5) enable her to touch someone whose sufferings were similar. There are purposes to our hardships, including that “our consolation also aboundeth by Christ” (verse 5). If we will permit Jesus His greater purposes in our lives, we will find that He not only will help us but also will enable us to help others with their fears and tears.