Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Someone to share our misery with

Since He Himself has gone through suffering and temptation, He is able to help us when we are being tempted (Hebrews 2:18).

It is said that ‘misery loves company’. And so countless numbers of unhappy employees use break time to pour out their frustrations to each other. They find solace from being reassured that they are not alone in their pain, that other people are hurting just as badly as they are.

But what kind of comfort can you really gain from finding out that another person’s marriage is also on the rocks? How does it help you to know that other people are also strangers to their children, because they have to work three jobs to keep their family fed? Does it really make you feel good about your situation, to hear that your friends are just as unhappy as you are?

Although you can get a feeling of camaraderie from trading tales of woe with others, such exchanges don’t provide you with what you really need—a ray of hope. It is much more helpful to spend time with a person who has successfully dealt with problems similar to your own, because they can give you hope that, like them, you too can experience better days in the future. Perhaps they can even pass on some advice from their experiences to help you through your present days of darkness and struggle.

But no matter who you talk to, the value of their advice will be limited. What they went through can never parallel your own situation exactly; solutions that worked for them may offer little or no help to you. There is only one Person who knows exactly what you’re going through. There is only one Person who can offer advice that is truly relevant to your situation. That one Person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He wove your DNA strands together in your mother’s womb; He created your immortal soul and attached it to your embryo at the moment you were conceived. He has witnessed everything that’s happened in your life, listened to every thought that’s crossed your mind. He knows you, knows what you’ve suffered, knows what you need. In fact, He knows your needs personally, because He Himself lived and suffered and died. And since He has gone through suffering and temptation, He is able to help us when we are being tempted; all we need do is turn our problem-filled lives over to Him.

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