365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 192: Understanding

Understanding

"Advice and priceless wisdom are mine. I, Understanding, have strength." (Proverbs 8:14 GW)

"I understand how you feel."

On my life's mental voice recording, I can hear myself saying this to friends who are hurting or struggling.

My intent is to both sympathize and empathize...to try to provide my friends with the "I'm not the only one" comfort I myself have received.

I believe my friends have known my intent, and yet no one can truly understand exactly how another person feels. No one except the One and Only.

Only Jesus can say, "I understand how you feel" without needing to sidestep or backtrack.

We say, "I'm hurting," and Jesus, who was wounded for our sake and not just physically, tells us, "I understand."

We say, "My friend has betrayed me," and Jesus, whose friend denied even knowing Him, tells us, "I understand."

We say, "I don't want to do this," and Jesus, who went to a garden to plead with His Father not to have to go to the cross, tells us, "I understand."

We say, "I feel so distant from God," and Jesus, who cried out to Abba from that cross and heard only silence, tells us, "I understand."

But here, as everywhere, what God knows is matched by what God does. Jesus not only understands, He undertakes.

He understands our loneliness and undertakes as our Friend. He understands our separation from God and undertakes as our Bridge to the Father. He understands our pain and undertakes as our Healer.

"His understanding no one can fathom," the prophet Isaiah definitively declares. Aren't you glad we can't fathom God's understanding? Aren't you glad it is so much bigger, wider, higher, and deeper than our human minds can possibly wrap themselves around? But at the same time, aren't you thankful we can trust His understanding? That we can pour out our hurts and hearts to God, hear Him say,"I understand how you feel," and respond with full assurance, "I know You do."