He Knows Where I Hurt

March 5, 2019

He Knows Where I Hurt

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 100:3

Have you ever noticed the seemingly contradictory nature of our humanity? On the one hand, we are incredibly strong. Our bodies will wage heroic battles against disease and illness; it takes a lot to kill us! Even so, a broken fingernail or a simple paper cut can aggravate and annoy us no end. What’s true in our physical realm is true as well in our emotional lives. We can muster the inner strength to persevere over all manner of obstacles and reach our goals. Even so, a perceived slight by friend or foe can keep us in turmoil for days. We are indeed very complex individuals. In the conundrum that I know myself to be, I take great comfort in knowing that the Lord is my God and that it is he who made me, and I am his; I am his child, a sheep of his pasture.

Because the Lord made me, He knows what makes me smile, and He knows what hurts me. There is nothing that I do, feel or think that catches my Abba by surprise. He knows me. He knows the way he designed me. He also knows His intended design was altered as a consequence of my sin as well as the actions of others, and as consequences of my own choices. As I write this paragraph, an image of a visit to Cuba comes to my mind. Two men were using a hacksaw to alter the shape of the nut on a bolt on a piece of equipment. Their problem was only having one wrench; thus they had to modify the bolt to fit their wrench. Necessity being the mother of invention, they were doing their best with what they had. 

Against that image from Cuba, God the Father Almighty, the one who made me and who knows me is not limited; “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 Emphasis mine).

My Takeaway: The psalmist writes, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Psalm 56:8). But God does more than keep track of my sorrow and tears; He uses them for His good purpose of transforming my broken life to become like that of my glorious brother, Christ Jesus.

What can we say to such good news?

“Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!”

Galatians 1:5 (MSG)