Emotional Connection

This weekend I get to attend a women’s retreat with a friend who is the keynote speaker. To help her prepare for the week, I am praying for her and for the women attending the retreat. There are about 30 women planning to attend. Thirty women! That’s a lot of estrogen in one place!

As I pray for each woman, I can’t help but consider their individual lives. I don’t know anything about them – their backgrounds, their hurts, their current situations, their needs, their joys, their struggles – I don’t know, but God knows.

When 30 women get together, there are bound to be a wide variety of thoughts, feeling and emotions. Today as I read in the book of John, I was encouraged to read that Jesus experienced powerful emotions during His time on earth.

John chapter 11 recounts the story of Lazarus’ death and the grief that his sisters Mary & Martha experienced. When Jesus saw Mary weeping in sadness over the death of her brother, the Bible says that Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” A few verses later it says that Jesus wept.

Isn’t it amazing that we serve a God who understands our emotions? His own Son walked on this earth and experienced the same feelings we do. He saw His friends in pain and wept. He loved them so much that it hurt Him to watch them suffer.

Some of the women coming to the retreat this weekend have undoubtedly experienced pain and heartache. Some of them are probably dealing with tough situations in life even now. Thankfully, Jesus not only knows the intricate emotions each woman will bring to the retreat; He has experienced similar emotions Himself.

Verse 38 says, “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.” He then raised Lazarus from the dead. This story is a great testimony of Jesus’ deep love for us. The pain and suffering Mary and Martha endured touched Him in a powerful way and He walked along side of them, feeling their pain as His own. He wants to do the same for us today.

Scripture: John 11:1-44

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Your Son Jesus to earth. As we read the story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, we see the tenderness Jesus felt for Mary and Martha. Thank you that this same tenderness is available to us as we experience difficult times in our lives. Thank you for being a God who cares about us in such a personal way.