No words can describe the difficulties we sometimes face. Our minds can hardly grasp the evils, the hardships, the pain and suffering that life here can bring. We look to this world and find such heartbreak and sorrow. We look to God and ask, “Do You care?” Does Jesus Care?
None are alone in their cries for help. We, with the psalmist, may indeed cry out, “Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I with for my God” (Psalm 69:1-3).
Such cries of pain and sorrow can be multiplied through the Psalms. Through sickness, threats, and even through the dealing with sin’s consequences, the psalmists took their feelings to God. Of the many lessons we are taught in the Psalms, this one really stands out: take what you are feeling to God. It’s okay to tell Him how you feel, to express your heartaches to Him, and to lay all of your cares and concerns on His table.
God cares. It may not always seem evident at first. We may wonder why He allows problems to persist. We may ask, “Why me?” “Why now?” “Why this?” We don’t know His time-frame. We cannot see behind the scenes. We can only learn to trust that God sees, God cares, and in His time will bring the peace that passes understanding.
Read Psalm 77 as an example of one who seeks after God in the day of trouble. In order to help us deal with so many strains and difficulties, please bear in mind the following:
1. Tell God what is on your mind. Whatever it is. However painful. However upset or angry. Tell Him about it. Be respectful, of course, but still tell Him. God wants us to pour out our souls to Him. This is one of the great messages of the Psalms. Prayer isn’t about a formula. It’s not repeating rote phrases. Among other things, it is letting our hearts emotionally bleed before God.
2. God wants us to seek Him out in the day of our troubles. Even when we feel so troubled that we refuse to be comforted. Even when we are so disturbed, so troubled that we cannot speak or sleep. Even when we feel rejected, without His mercy, without His promises. Even when our grief has so overtaken us that we don’t know how to address it.
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).
3. Whatever we can worry about, we can pray about. Only by praying through our worries can we ever find that peace that passes understanding.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).
If we persevere and trust Him, then the peace will come. We must push through the hardships, trust Him through the pain, and know that He sees and cares. He will know our grief and provide comfort.
4. Weeping before the Lord is perfectly acceptable. It may be over various heartaches. It may be over our sins and failures. It may be over hurts and insults others have heaped upon us. It may be out of compassion for others. It may be over the death of a loved one. For whatever reason, we have been led to believe that crying and weeping is a sign of weakness. We must remember that God made us with the ability to weep, and there are times when weeping is the appropriate reaction to the pain and difficulties this world brings. There is a “time to weep” and mourn (Eccl 3:4).
Joseph wept upon seeing his brothers (Gen 43:30). Hannah wept over her barren condition (1 Sam 1:8). David wept over his family being taken captive (1 Sam 30), over the loss of his children, and over his own sins.
“I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears” (Psa 6:6).
Even our Lord wept (John 11:35), whether in disappointment, in compassion for others, in sorrow for the lost, even over the city of Jerusalem as He contemplated their fate (Luke 19:41).
“In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety” (Heb 5:7).
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15).
5. Remember the deeds of the Lord (Psa 77:11ff). In our moments of deep despair, remembering what God has done can help soothe the hurting soul. For Israel, it was that God had led the people out of Egypt. It was also that God was indeed the Creator, and maintains all His power.
In addition to remembering His Power, let’s reflect for a moment on the deeds of our Lord:
“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day…” (Acts 10:38-40a)
Jesus went about doing good and healing. He was a healer. He could take those who are oppressed and bring healing and peace. And make no mistake about this: it is the devil who brings the oppression. It is the devil who destroys our peace of mind. It is the devil who prowls about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet 5:8). And devour he does! He destroys and devastates. And what we are feeling when we feel that devastation is due to the influence and havoc wrought by our adversary. This is why it is vital to realize that we are indeed in a battle for the heart and mind (Eph 6:12).
Only our Lord, through His own deeds, can heal us from the oppression of our adversary. “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). He has crushed the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15), and provides us with a way to overcome and gain victory by faith.
How did Jesus do this? By coming to die. By submitting to suffering and death. By voluntarily going through the agony of the cross. By dying and rising again. “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried” (Isa 53:4a). By His stripes we are healed.
“For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb 2:18).
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 2:14-16).
Did we hear that? We may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need! Why? Because Jesus is indeed the Great Healer who, through His death and resurrection, provides the ultimate healing to the problem of sin and all the ugliness that sin has brought into this world.
When we stop to think on the deeds of our God, reflect especially upon His actions that resulted in His death and resurrection, for this is where our hope will be found. We have a living hope made possible through the resurrection (1 Pet 1:3). And now, He ever lives to intercede on our behalf (Heb 7:25). Again, as Psalm 77 says, “You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. You have by Your power redeemed Your people” (vv 14-15a).
Of all wonders He has wrought. Of all the works He has done, the greatest and most powerful of all was accomplished by means of the anguish and suffering of the Son — “Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24).
The deeds of our Lord demonstrate conclusively that He loves us (Rom 8:31-39). They show without question that He cares for us and wants to redeem us from this world of sin and woe.
Does Jesus Care?
When we ask, “Does Jesus Care?” The answer is a resounding, “Oh yes, He cares. I know He cares.” From Frank E. Graeff (1901):
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief there is no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
Hope Expressed
The Psalmist expressed hope this way:
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You (Psa 139:11-12).
And Habakkuk, struggling with great difficulties in his time, ended His prophetic work with this message of patience and hope:
Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places. (Hab 3:17-19)
Paul wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” (2 Cor 1:3-5)
True and lasting comfort is found in Christ. Let us seek Him in these difficult times.
Doy Moyer
