The Golden Nugget: Your grief, hurt, and brokenness are big deals to Jesus.

Weekly Verse: “Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” —Isaiah 49:13

Weekly Message: 
Everyone experiences grief. Hurt is inevitable. Brokenness is much too common. No one escapes times of suffering. Perhaps you feel blanketed by such overwhelming pain at this very moment. If you do, God does, too. 

Your grief, your pain, and your brokenness are big deals to God because they hurt him, too. Literally. God’s son, Jesus, knows these same feelings intimately. Jesus was whipped, spat upon, ridiculed, betrayed, lied to, cursed, hated, and made to carry his own instrument of execution for crimes he didn’t commit.

God is grieved by the sufferings of all people—those walking closely with Him, those who don't know Him, and even those at enmity with Him. He wants to heal and comfort—but not to make life without Him comfortable. Jesus came to serve the hurting. He included the outcast, hugged the diseased, ate with those whose names never appeared on anyone’s invitation list, and turned the tables on injustice.

Will you trust him to comfort you? His compassion is more than enough for you to endure all things.

Consider This:

• What does it mean to you that God would let himself suffer like you and I suffer?
• Why does it hurt so much to lose someone you love? How might God hurt in the same way?

Take Action:
Read Isaiah 49:8–13 with someone and discuss the promises God makes in that text. Identify the ones you need in your life right now and ask God for them.