TOUCHED WITH THE FEELINGS OF OUR INFIRMITIES 

It was a pleasant summer day.  The children and I, as was often the case, were spending some of the afternoon just “messing around” in the front yard.  We were playing catch or squirting each other with the hose, having a good time.  Without warning, Matthew fell to the ground, grasping his foot, shrieking.  He had stepped on a bee.  Now and then, he sucked in his breath through clenched teeth, and then wailed once again, obviously in great pain. 

At once, I mixed up a batch of mud and spread a thick cover over the spot where the flying creature had deposited his stinger.  Holding him in my arms, I wiped his face with a cold, wet rag.  Some of the onlookers judged Matt’s reaction to the sting to be an overreaction.  How could a bee sting hurt so much? 

The children will tell you that sometimes I was hard on them when it came to pain and sickness.  They would jokingly say that they had to lose a limb or have blood gushing from their nose in order to be allowed to stay home from school.  I know that this characteristic filtered down from my father’s dealings with me.  When they were sick or hurt, I could find out more about the problem if my compassion was tinted with toughness. 

On this day, however, as I shed some tears with my son, I thanked God for having allowed me to be “touched with the feelings” of his infirmities.  About twenty minutes before Matt was stung, I had reached down into the grass to pick up an object, and a bee had stung me on the forefinger.  Excruciating is the only word I know to describe the pain.  I don’t know if there are different types of stings, but this bee sting was downright painful. 

I was glad to be able to tell him, “Matt, I know exactly how much it hurts.  Exactly.”  It made me feel good to sympathize in reality with him. 

The truth that Jesus knows all about our pains and trials because He’s “been there” took on new meaning. And if that was the end of this truth, it would be fine, but there’s more. Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us this:  

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

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 was without sin.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”