The Problem of PainSample

He gets it

I’m not very good at pastoral counseling, but I do know this: Most people are more blessed by deep empathy than by quick answers. Hurting people want a person who gets it, someone who feels with them. Logic and solutions are not bad, but they’re not always the best answer to begin with.

If you’re hurting today, please remember that Jesus gets it. Perhaps the most famous prophecy about Jesus, Isaiah 53, includes this: “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (verse 3). Jesus didn’t feel pain once or twice; he was “familiar with” it.

Do you come from a poor family? He gets it. Have you been misunderstood or rejected? He gets it. Have you been betrayed by a friend or hurt by the church? He gets it. Have you seen sickness and darkness up close? He gets it. Have you gone to the funeral of a friend? He gets it. Have you been verbally or physically abused? He gets it.

When you suffer, Jesus looks you in the eyes and says, “I get it. And I’m sorry. This is not how it’s supposed to be. This is not how it was in the beginning. This is not how it will be one day. But this is what it is right now. I hate it, but I get it.”

Is God working out your pain for a greater purpose? Absolutely. But he is also with you in the darkness, looking you in the eyes with compassion and assuring you, “I get it.”