Private pains, deep
hurts, shameful addictions. You may think that nobody understands what you are
going through, but God does. He can identify with all your pains and is able to
help you (see Hebrews 2:18, 4:15).
In the Old Testament,
the grain offering brought to God speaks of Jesus’ life on earth. The fine
flour, which the grain offering is made with, is flour that has been pounded,
ground, beaten and sifted through to get it consistently even and fine.
Therefore, it typifies the humanity and sufferings of Jesus.
One of the ways the
Jewish women prepared the grain offering was to bake it. The baking done in the
depths of the oven speaks of the “hidden” sufferings that Jesus went through. I
believe that Jesus faced sufferings that we cannot fully understand. Even as a
young boy, He must have gone through sufferings that prepared Him to die for
all humanity at the cross. And during His ministry years, it must have grieved
Him when time and time again, He found unbelief not just in the people around
Him, but even in His disciples.
Jesus also suffered at
the hands of men—slanderers who misunderstood Him. Once, the Pharisees
insinuated that He was born out of wedlock because His mother was with child
before she married Joseph (see John 8:39, 41). That scandalous remark, probably
not the first, must have hurt Him.
Consider also the
temptations He faced. There were not only three. God’s Word says that He was
tempted for 40 days (see Luke 4:2)! Not all the temptations were recorded.
Those 40 days must have tried Him sorely.What do all these mean?
My friend, Jesus went through all those temptations and sufferings for you, yet He did not sin (see Hebrews 4:15). There is no temptation or suffering that you are going through that He cannot identify with. So come to His throne of grace today and receive His superabounding grace to face and overcome those trials in your life! (Article & Picture; courtesy of Joseph Prince Ministries used with kind permission).
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