Do you know that sometimes the best thing you can do for a hurting person is to just be there?
When I first started in the ministry 25 years ago, I had a sermon for everyone. But since then, I have slept a couple of times, and met with many people who have experienced a tragedy or loss, and I have realized they don’t always need a sermon.
Often,what they need is just a friend. They don’t need someone to say, “I know what you are going through,” or “Maybe this is the reason.” They need someone to just love them, pray for them, and cry with them because of the great sense of loss they are experiencing.
Jesus experienced loneliness and doubt. He experienced anguish. Or I like to call them, “Earth Moments.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked Peter, James, and John just to be there with Him. Then, in perhaps the loneliest moment of His life, He cried out from the cross, “ ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ ” (Matthew 27:46).
It is believed by many (myself included) that at that moment, God poured all the sin of humanity on His sinless Son. That’s a very important doctrinal point, “sin came on Jesus, he did not become sin.” As the Heavenly Father, who is holy, turned His face, Jesus was separated momentarily from Him. In that moment, Jesus experienced loneliness like we never have known.
So the next time you are feeling down, the next time you are feeling misunderstood, the next time it seems like your friends have forsaken you, know this: Jesus has been there. He knows what it is like. And He will never leave you or forsake you.
Rev Ran 🙂