We share in his sufferings, and he shares in ours
Josh at “Called to Rebuild” has written an excellent post called “In all our affliction He too is afflicted.” It’s a beautiful story and commentary on a father’s love for his child… both a human father and God our father.
He begins by telling us about a time he saw his son bang his head on a table. He describes how his son reached for the sore spot on his head, trying to decide whether or not to cry. Who can’t identify with this:
Immediately my heart leapt in his direction. It was all I could do to not cry myself. I quickly went over to him and rubbed his head, telling him to do the same whenever he bumped it like that and it would feel better. He smiled at me through his pain. It was such a heartwarming moment.
But, Josh doesn’t stop there. God used that incident to teach him a lesson about God himself:
Unexpectedly, I received a wonderful insight into the Lord in that same moment. It came like a flash as I felt my own heart’s reaction toward my son’s pain. I saw the heart of the Father towards humanity, so willing to rush out and embrace us in our pain.
Josh continues discussing this point from Scripture as well as from this experience.
But, think about that for a moment: As much as a human parent’s heart breaks over pain inflicted to a child, how much more does God’s heart break when one of his children are hurt?
I don’t know about you, but this is very comforting for me… even though my “afflictions” (the physical kind at least) are quite mild compared to the sufferings of many of my brothers and sisters around the world.