by Kyle Kalkbrenner, Resident Intern
The Great Sympathizer
Hello friends, I have recently started growing out my facial hair and it leads me to ask you all something: “May I ‘stache you a question?” In all seriousness though, my question is, how do you view God? Is it something like a God that reigns over you looking to bust your chops whenever you mess up? Or is it a loving father that is able to pick you up whenever you’re having a rough time. Now I’ll be honest, I had a rough weekend. Family came over unexpectedly and I was swamped with homework. I had gotten little to no sleep the night before and I was struggling to find the patience needed to deal with everything that goes along with family visiting. I was really struggling with not making small remarks and being a “Debbie Downer.” However, the thing that helped me was that I knew I have a good Father in Heaven, and He wants to hear my problems and help me get through them. So, this is my challenge to everyone who reads this: allow God to be your listener. Confide in Him all of your frustrations and anger. In Hebrews 4:15-16, it says, “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.” What we can see from this text is that Jesus is a compassionate God who lived and dealt with the same things we deal with today. He is a God who is willing to meet you where you are with your struggles. God tells His people to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. God’s character can be seen throughout the Bible as a God who wants to be your Counselor. Because no matter how hard we try we will always mess it up. So, take everything to the throne of God and allow Him to be your sympathizer. “Pray as you are, not as you aught.”