“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” - Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)

Have you ever been in a time of distress and a well-meaning individual gives you a throw away comment that is totally inappropriate and reveals that they have no idea what you are going through? I was once in an ICU on a ventilator in great pain and a colleague came to see me. After seeing my situation he said, “If I were you I would just want to die.” How is that for bedside manner? Fortunately, I could not speak back because it might not have been nice! 

We long for people who can understand us, especially in times of trouble, fear, anxiety or uncertainty. We don’t want cheap words like, “There is a reason for everything.” We want compassion and understanding.

The writer of the book of Hebrews says this, compassion and understanding, is what we have in Jesus. In the incarnation, He lived among us and experienced the full range of emotions, trouble, and situations that all of us experience. The prophet Isaiah calls Him a “man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” (Isaiah 53:3). When the creator became a man so that we could know the creator, He walked the same walk as we do - only without sin. His very willingness to become like us indicates His deep love for us - His creation. 

Because of this, we are told, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Why can we come to him in confidence? Because He understands us. He can empathize with our situation. He is not some distant God but One who walked the same earth as we do. So we are invited to come to Him in confidence knowing that He gets it and gets us. 

What do we find when we come to Him? We “receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Mercy is undeserved favor while grace is the ability to deal with the situation we face. These are no cheap platitudes. Rather it is exactly what we need in a time of need. God does not promise that He will remove our difficulty but, more profound, He promises to walk through that difficulty with us.

Wherever you need mercy and grace today to deal with your needs, accept God’s invitation to kneel at His throne in prayer. Do so with bold confidence that Jesus understands you and your situation. He is the best place to go in our time of need.

Father, thank You that You chose to live among us and experience what we experience. Thank You for sacrificing Your one and only Son to boldly and confidently come before You to find help in my time of need. And thank You for walking through my need with me. Amen.