You are Not Alone

I want to share a brief passage from scripture from which I take great encouragement. It is from the book of Hebrews, chapter four, verses fourteen through sixteen.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This passage reveals two truths worth grasping, and one admonition worth following, all of which would suffice to be our spiritual life’s work for the rest of our lives if we truly understood and treasured them. The first truth is this: We do not stand on our own before God the Father, we have an advocate in Jesus Christ, God the Son. God looks upon those who are in Christ Jesus and He sees not our own goodness, but the goodness of His Son. Scriptures tell us that Jesus acts as our Advocate, like a lawyer before a judge, and He stands to tell the judge that in spite of the guilt of His client, He has already paid our fine by dying on the cross.

The second truth is this: Jesus represents us to God the Father with an intimate understanding of our frailty. It is understandable that we get a general impression of God being powerful, mighty and distant because He is so much different than we are and He is so holy. But the Bible clearly tells us that Jesus can identify with us in the way we are tempted and afflicted because He himself faced those same trials and difficulties. I don’t know why it works this way, but there is some measure of comfort and assurance in knowing that someone else has gone through the issues we are dealing with. God comforts us by saying “I know…I’ve been there.”

Finally, we are called to “draw near the throne of grace”. This means that we are able to draw near to God’s throne with confidence instead of terror. It means that we need never feel alone because we have a confident expectation of God’s loving care for us. In Him we can find mercy, grace, and help in time of need.