Relief: A Quarterly Christian Expression - Does God Really ‘Feel’ Me?

Does God Really ‘Feel’ Me?

Written by Don Beireis

Thursday, 10 July 2008

Don Beireis continues his series on biblical characters, discussing what we can learn from Saul.

Have you ever found yourself in trying circumstances that left you wondering if God really understood? That, even though every scripture ever written points to Him ‘being there’ for you, somehow there still remains a disconnect?

During these past few months, even when God has faithfully sent me a verse here and there that fits my challenge of the day, there are still times when I’ve asked myself, can He truly understand what I feel?

More specifically, does He really understand how uncertain I feel not knowing what the future holds for my family? Let me add here that I have NO DOUBT that He cares for me and that He has a ‘plan to prosper us and give us a future.’ I can look up Jeremiah 29:11 as easily as the next Bible reader. In fact, I know there are myriad of scriptures that serve as quick reminders of that, just a few of which follow:

I will never leave you nor forsake you Hebrews 13:5
He sees each sparrow fall; even the hairs of our head are numbered Matt 10:29-30
I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him Psalms 91:15
And Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world Matt 28:20
Cast your burdens on him for he cares for you 1 Peter 5:7
He knows the way that I take, and when I am tried, I shall come forth as gold Job 23:10
And my God will supply all your needs Philipp 4:19
My grace is sufficient for you 2 Cor. 12:9
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son John 3:16
Come to me and I will give you rest Matt 11:28
With God all things are possible Luke 18:27
For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you Jerem 29:11

These verses provide wonderful assurances that He cares, that He’ll provide, and that He has a plan for us. Further, His love was so incredible that He gave His life for each of us, we who would live 2000 years after Him, in a country not yet conceived by man, on soil upon which He’d never walk. But does a Savior who now basks in all of the comforts and joys of heaven, really connect with my feelings, my stresses, my worries?

Then I remember Saul.

On that long road to Damascus, traveled an extreme fundamentalist, a.k.a. Paul, whose hatred and rage for those who followed Jesus was rivaled only by the severity of punishment he dealt those early Christians. Seething with threats and murder against the followers of Jesus, he sought and was granted authority to arrest any that he met.

Before he reached Damascus, he was blinded by an intense light and fell to the ground. Then a voice spoke, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul asked, “Who are you, Master?” The voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute.”

For me, Christ’s first words leap off the page here, “Why are you persecuting ME?” He didn’t ask “why are you persecuting my children?” He didn’t ask why Saul blazed such a path of persecution and destruction.

Rather, Christ was saying He PERSONALLY felt the grief of every orphan Saul’s cruelty created, the loss of every family he drove from their home, the fear in which every Christian lived their life and their trepidation as they met in secret to worship the One who died for them. Jesus himself felt every unspeakable, heartless act that Saul had committed or authorized.

By those powerful words, “Why are you persecuting ME,” His message to all of us is clear: I do understand your struggles and I take them personally.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is in heaven surrounded by all glory, honor, power, love, peace and the undying adoration of all celestial beings. Incredibly, while He did ascend into Heaven, He did not rise above our joys and sorrows. The scars in His hands and feet remind each of us that He does share in our feelings, in each step we take.

Previous Articles:

Don Beireis, who is currently in transition from twelve years in the banking industry, is a musician, a writer, and a “recovering legalist” who has spent most of his life in church. An avid reader, his desire to write stems from what he sees as “a growing need to translate theological knowledge into inspiring life application.” You may contact him via email at dbeireis [at] gmail[ dot] com.

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