Help In Our Time of Need
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 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 4:13–16
I love the message of this passage. I don’t know if other cultures experience this, but in the U.S. it seems we take great pride in being able to conquer obstacles and overcome hardships by pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps and toughing it out. We look at people who have overcome great odds and think “they must be a really strong person”. We admire what we perceive as personal strength, and often look down on what we perceive as weakness (both in ourselves and others). In this passage, though, the writer makes it clear: though we may feel tempted to search within for the strength to overcome challenges, it’s not necessary to put ourselves through that! God not only sees it all, but empathizes with our struggle and invites us to come to him confidently to receive the grace and mercy we need to overcome. God isn’t angry or ashamed of our weaknesses; on the contrary, He looks forward to being able to use those weaknesses in a way that lets His glory shine through us. In Him we can find everything we need to successfully get through any situation. He has more than enough to equip us to overcome! I believe He would rather we come to Him in our weakness and rely on Him to help us succeed, than to attempt it by our own strength and fail. He is able to see what is coming, and He knows exactly what we need to be ready for what lies ahead. He is a Father who takes great joy in helping His children!
God is more than willing, more than ready and more than able to give us exactly what we need to succeed. We can come to Him boldly, not as a beggar but as His child, and confidently expect He will meet our needs. Praise God!