In Our Shoes

An All-time Low

Sometime back, I had one of the most troubling psychological experiences such that no words from anyone could lift me up from my pit.

But God who amazes me with His words of life, lifted me and I can’t explain how but He just knew the words that could touch my heart, heal my pain and restore me once again.

God truly knows me and He knows you too. I read a chapter in a book by David Wilkerson that talked about surrendering our cross to Jesus.

We Are Called To Carry A Cross

We are all called to bear a cross, in fact, Christ said that if we're to follow Him, we're to take up the cross, deny ourselves and follow Him.

But how could Jesus ask us to carry our own crosses when He was totally unable to carry His own cross to Golgotha? One of the reasons is because He needed to know what it’s like to be weak, helpless and defeated.

He needed to experience human frailty so that He could become the perfect High priest who identifies with us at our weakest point. Trust me on this, Jesus knows our weakest points because He feels it with us and has felt it to the greatest degree.

In Our Shoes

Worn shoes

Jesus went through suffering so that He could empathize with us. Who else can best minister to you unless they have gone through a similar experience you are going through?

Because Jesus went through it, He is the best counselor anyone could ever have, that's why we can run to Him. Secondly, Jesus tells us to carry our crosses, and this is the point that struck like a thunderbolt in me, because He wants us to reach the end of ourselves. The cross is meant to weigh us down by its weight so that we surrender and say “Lord I can’t go on like this anymore, please come to my rescue.”

Jesus wants us to come to the end of ourselves, dare I even say to reach our breaking point in order for Him to take over. I think this is God’s way of teaching us how to surrender, to let go of the reins and relinquish control to Him alone.

The Christian life isn't meant to be lived in our power but by Christ’s power. We are made weak so that He can become strong on our behalf. I tried so hard and each time I kept hitting a brick wall, my thoughts were spiraling me down into a black hole that I couldn’t see the bottom yet God in His mercy reached out and rescued me. During that time, the song 'Shoulders' by For King & Country had been ministering powerfully to me.

God's in the saving business and there's no pit too deep or too far for Him to reach out and save you. Let His love fill you, surround you, shelter you, lift and empower you. Jesus is real. He isn't a fable and one truly comes to know that intimately in the throes of pain and suffering.

Jesus so to speak puts Himself in our shoes and goes through it with us and saves us.