God Sees Your Disappointment

Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin, (Hebrews 4:15 NIV).

Friend to Friend
Let's face it. People let us down. They disappoint us. And so does God. Often our experiences fall short of our expectations for God to meet all our needs the way we think He should, and like a lover who has been wronged, we tend to guard our hearts against future disappointment by lowering our expectations and trust. But make no mistake about it, God sees. God understands. He is not aloof.

One day I was sitting on the patio with my friend Beth and her stepfather, Sam, waiting for the grill to heat up before placing steaks on to cook. Beth's mom opened the door and gave Sam his orders—telling him what to do and how to do it. When she went back inside, Sam made a hand signal, pointing in one ear and out the other. We all three laughed. Then he placed his ruddy hand on Beth's arm, a hand worn by years of working under the hood of cars of every make and model.

Why Didn't Jesus Raise Lazarus Immediately?

Jack Graham

When you read the story of the death of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), you have to ask the question, “Why did Jesus delay in coming to see Lazarus?”

After all, he had gotten word two days earlier that Lazarus was deathly ill. Why did he wait for two days to go see him? Did he not care?

Yes, Jesus cared. The Bible says he loved Lazarus. Then why did Jesus delay?

There are times when we pray and God doesn’t come through the way we expect him to come through. The healing doesn’t come. The answers don’t come. We cry, we pray, the tears flow, and we wonder, does God care about me?

Yes, he does! The same one who wept at the grave of Lazarus weeps for you. His tears represent his sympathy to us as our Savior and High Priest.

How is Jesus Our Substitute?

John Barnett

On the cross, God treated Jesus as if He had committed every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe. 

Did you get that? God treated Him as if He committed, personally, every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe though the fact is He committed none of them. 

That’s the great doctrine of substitution. And that’s the first side of imputation. God imputed our sins to Him. He was guilty of none of them. God treated Him as if He committed all of them. And He just unloaded His fury for all the sins of all the people who would ever believe in Him in the history of the world. He unloaded all His fury against all their sins on Christ.

To borrow the language of Leviticus 16, Jesus became the “scapegoat.” The scapegoat was guilty of nothing. But the High Priest, as it were, laid all the sins of the people on the scapegoat and sent him away. He was without sin. But sin was credited to His account as if He had personally committed it and then God punished Him though the fact is He never committed any of it. That’s imputation.

What Is Jesus Doing Now?

Pastor Colin Smith

  

He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because... Hebrews 7:25

Many Christians have a good understanding of what Christ has done for us in the past through His death on the cross, and of what He will do for us in the future when He comes again in power and in glory. They are clear about what Christ has done for us yesterday, confident about what He will do for us tomorrow, but confused about what He is doing for us today.

Christ died to save you, but He also lives to keep you. It is through Christ's continuing work of intercession that we are sustained through every pressure, kept through every temptation and eventually brought into glory.

Christ prays for you

He always lives to intercede... Hebrews 7:25

This means that Jesus speaks to the Father on your behalf. He represents you and brings the specific needs that you have, and the particular situations that you are facing, before the Father.

There is a beautiful illustration of this in the Gospels. Jesus knew that Peter was going to come under great pressure after He was arrested. He had already told Peter, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." But Peter was sure that he was up to the challenge, confident that he could rise above that kind of failure.

Then Jesus said to Peter, "Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail" (Luke 22:31). Notice Jesus didn't say He had prayed that Peter would not fail, but that Peter's faith would not fail. God can use our failures as well as our triumphs. Jesus was saying, "Peter, you are going to come under great pressure. The enemy is going to attack you. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail."

That's exactly what happened. Jesus was arrested, and Peter was afraid and embarrassed. Satan really worked him over, and he failed big time. That might have been the end of Peter's story, but it wasn't. The reason? Christ had prayed for him, and His prayers always get answered.

That's why when Peter hit his lowest point and blew his testimony, his failure becomes an opportunity to discover the mercy of God. On the third day, Peter was among those who came to the tomb and discovered the risen Lord. A few days later, his faith renewed, the Lord restored Peter and commissioned him for ministry.

Seated on the throne

Such a high priest meets our need-one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Hebrews 7:26

Now we are not to think of Jesus on His knees in heaven, agonizing in prayer on our behalf, as He did in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is seated on the throne in the position of authority, and His word is the angels' command.

Jesus Christ, your great High Priest, is aware of every circumstance of your life. Nothing escapes His attention. He speaks with authority in the presence of the Father, and His word releases the resources of heaven for the pressures and temptations you face today.

I wonder what Jesus is praying for you right now... That your faith may not fail? That you will be sustained under a great burden? That you will face up to an issue of sin and deal with it? It is marvelous to know that Christ intercedes for you. He will bring you through every circumstance of life. He lives for that very purpose.

That's this week's LifeKEY!

Colin S. Smith

This LifeKey is based on the message "Intercession," from the series, "Unlocking the Bible in Hebrews & James," preached on November 18, 2001.  

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