19. Jesus Faced the Struggles You Face

Do you ever feel alone in your struggles? Overwhelmed by waves of emotions? Wonder if anyone understands?

Discover how you can experience mercy and grace in your time of need knowing Jesus faced the struggles you face.

I go to bed early because my body requires a lot of sleep. I have low blood sugar, not low enough that I need medicine, but my body gets weak when I wait too long to eat. I struggle with making decisions, wondering if others will think less of me if I choose what I believe in my heart I should do.

Does Jesus understand? Did He face the same struggles?

Jesus was fully God and fully man.

Jesus’ divinity gives us hope. He is the Son of God, and He came to earth to save us from our sins. He died on the cross and rose from the dead, defeating sin and death once and for all.

Jesus’ humanity allows us to relate to Him on a personal level. We can understand His emotions because we experience them ourselves. And we can trust Him because He knows what it’s like to be human.

According to Bill Gaultiere in his article at Soul Shepherding, “In the Bible, Jesus demonstrates the full range of human emotions and expresses them in perfect love.”

In his article Bill identifies 39 different emotions that Jesus faced. He then groups them into 11 core emotions: anxiety, anger, shame, sadness, pain, surprise, hope, faith, love, joy, and peace. He writes, “Each offers a mirror to help us to verbalize our emotions and receive Jesus’ empathy.”

Let’s look at Mark 3:20-27 (NKJV).

“Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind.’

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“And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebub,’ and, ‘By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.’

“So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.”

Let’s break those verses down to see what struggles Jesus faced.

Jesus experienced hunger.

“Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.”

Jesus was a human being, and He had the same physical needs as we do. He needed to eat, drink, and sleep. He also got tired, just like we do. Yet the people continued to come so that He couldn’t stop to eat.

Jesus felt frustration.

“But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind.’”

He taught people about God’s love yet His own family not only didn’t believe in Him. They thought He was crazy.

Jesus felt misunderstood.

“And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebub,’ and, ‘By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.’

He came to defeat the enemy, and they accused Him of conspiring with the enemy.

Jesus’ experience of the same things we face gives us hope. It shows us that God understands our struggles, and that He is there for us when we need Him.

Jesus is our Savior and our friend. He faced our same struggles, and He is always there to help us. If we feel overwhelmed by our emotions, we can turn to Jesus for comfort and strength. He will never let us down. As our High Priest, Jesus intercedes for us before God.

Paul writes in Hebrews 4:14-16 (NKJV): “Seeing then that 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 cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus was fully God and fully man. As our High Priest we can come to Jesus and experience mercy and grace in our time of need knowing Jesus faced the struggles we face.

As our High Priest we can come to Jesus and experience mercy and grace in our time of need knowing Jesus faced the struggles we faced. 19. Jesus Faced the Struggles You Face

Jesus is always there for us, no matter what we are going through. He loves us unconditionally, and He wants to help us. Let’s turn to Him for comfort and strength, and let’s experience His love for ourselves.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
HEBREWS 4:15 NKJV

Question to Journal About or Simply Contemplate:

How does knowing Jesus faced the struggles you face, change things for you?

I hope this simple encouragement of seeing how Jesus empathizes with your struggles can help you cultivate a rhythm of rest. Because while it’s true that life is complicated, our hearts find rest when we keep first things first and release the rest.

Are you weary? Overwhelmed? Battling anxiety? Experience heart rest today with Be Still: 5 Days to Heart Rest. This FREE devotional will help you rest in the security of who you are in Christ. Draw close to His heart through His Word. Move forward from a place of rest. Get your FREE devotional today.

As we close, I want to leave you with a quote from Elisabeth Elliot: “We want to avoid suffering, death, sin, ashes. But we live in a world crushed and broken and torn, a world God Himself visited to redeem. We receive His poured-out life, and being allowed the high privilege of suffering with Him, may then pour ourselves out for others.”

Thank you for listening, sweet friend. Until next time rest in Christ.