Jeremy Camp - The Overflow Devo, I Will FollowSample

“He Knows”

If we’re honest, we’ll admit that the times when we are hurting the most are the times when we often feel God is the furthest from us. As if He recoils at the sight of our pain. As if He can’t possibly relate to what we’re going through. As if a Deity so great has never experienced such tribulation. How quickly we forget His ultimate suffering on our behalf.

In John 11:35, the Bible says, “Jesus wept” as he mourned the death of his good friend Lazarus. He felt the ache of losing someone He loved, even though He himself solely possessed the power to bring him back to life (which He later did). Christ knows our pain and He feels it deeply. Yet, He also gives us hope, rooted in the promise that He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).

We harbor the knowledge of this truth, but we allow our hearts to forget it. Thankfully, we serve a God who is all-knowing. He numbers the stars and the hairs on our heads. The Creator of the Universe is a God of detail, and He’s a trustworthy secret-keeper.

At times, He is the only one who can identify with how we feel in the midst of trouble, drought or want; and He, too, is the only one who can heal those situations in our lives that push us to the edges of worry and despair. He promises that no pain we will ever experience goes to waste, and He makes sure every tear is counted. The Bible says, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” (Psalm 56:8, NLT)

The Father empathizes with us. Although He never sinned, He was tempted, so He can identify with our every struggle. The incredible part about Christ coming as a baby who grew into a man means He entered our reality. He knows what it’s like to be human, and He’s experienced every emotion we could ever encounter. He knows what it’s like to feel loved unconditionally; yet, He also knows what it’s like to feel betrayed.

Rest in the promise that He’s here and He knows your deepest desires, your unspoken dreams and your hidden hurt. He simply asks that we bring it all to Him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” He says in Matthew 11:28 (NIV). Graciously, He gives us the greatest gift He could ever provide, in both joy and pain—the gift of Himself, ever close, ever knowing.