Gina Duke - Churchtown Ministries

Giver of Good Stuff for Authentic Christian Living and Women’s Ministry

  • Home
  • Gina’s Bio
  • Books
    • Organizing Your Prayer Closet
    • Publishing Dreams
    • How to Beef Up Your Blog
  • Prayer Journal
    • Organizing Your Prayer Closet
      • Reviews
      • My Book’s Prestigious Award Press Release
      • Join My Facebook Group for Organizing Your Prayer Closet
    • 31 Ways to WRECK Your Prayer Journal
    • Video Playlist Companion for Your Prayer Closet Organizer
    • Take the 31-Day Structured Prayer Journaling Challenge
    • Small Group Guide for Organizing Your Prayer Closet
    • A Tool for Your Prayer Journal
    • Easy Prayer Petition Organizer
  • Women’s Ministry
    • Free Resources
    • A Case Study
    • How to Host an Interactive Bible Study
    • Favorite Christian Speakers
  • Speaking
    • Why Book Me?
    • Speaking Topics
    • Prayer Retreat Format & Topics
    • Endorsements
    • Fee Schedule
    • Speaking Schedule
    • Gina’s Bio
    • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Gina’s Etsy Store
  • Resources
    • Podcast Resources
    • Series
      • 5 Misconceptions about the Church & How to Refute Them
      • Jesus’ Manifesto Video Series
      • What Do You Think about the Christ? Video Series
      • Lessons from the Lepers – Thanksgiving Video Series
      • Detect & Defuse 4 Opposing Spirits to Women’s Ministry
    • Interviews
    • My Poems
    • Prayer Journaling Tutorial Videos
  • Blog Link-Ups
  • The Chronicles of the Corporate Mom

Can the Man of Sorrow Really Identify with Our Sorrow?

April 16, 2017 by Gina | 2 Comments

Man of Sorrow, Suffering, Comfort, prayer journal, war room, prayer notebookCan the Man of Sorrow REALLY Identify with Our Sorrows???

This is an important question because it pushes us to make an important decision about our relationship with Christ.

Can the One who paid His taxes with a coin from the mouth of some random fish and invented “Call Ahead Seating” at the Last Supper really understand what we are going through?

I’ll never forget when my brother-in-law died in a freak accident.  Over and over I kept telling myself how much I didn’t want his two sons to have to go through this and go through life without their father.  It was awful, to say the least.

When we laid Mike to rest, I noticed a monument by his grave of Jesus kneeling and its inscription read, “The Garden of Gethsemane.”  I thought this was an odd monument because I am more accustomed to those with Jesus standing with open, welcoming arms or seeing daunting chairs that reminded me more of the judgment seat than the mercy seat.  So, this one of Jesus kneeling in prayer did not at first glance seem to be a good fit for a cemetery.

But then the Holy Spirit interrupted my thoughts and drew my attention to the fact that Jesus was doing the very same thing I had been doing – praying not go through something so painful.  More than that, He had received a No from His Heavenly Father.  Whether our family liked it or not, we were going through with this dreadful and sorrowful season, and so was He.  And He did.

He was despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.  Isaiah 53:3

Jesus was not only titled as a Man of Sorrow, but this verse also states that He was acquainted with deepest grief.  But can He identify with my own?  Here’s some more evidence that He can:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. (Matthew 27:37)

According to Matthew Henry, “Our Lord declares the miseries the inhabitants of Jerusalem were about to bring upon themselves, but he does not notice the sufferings he was to undergo.”

After Mary of Bethany threw herself down at the feet of Jesus and wept over the loss of her brother Lazarus, it states that Jesus wept.  I believe Jesus familiarized Himself with the grief over death and the disappointment these two sister felt in Him.  (John 11)

You see, when we suffer, we can feel wounded by God and that misguided thought can deceive us into thinking that God doesn’t love us.  That’s a lie. McCall's Patterns, prayer journal,

It was Naomi who after the death of her husband and sons renamed herself Marah (a.k.a. Bitter) because she felt afflicted by God.

After my own season of feeling afflicted by the Lord, I finally realized – Where else can I go but the Lord?  No matter if I believe that God has failed me, Where else can I go?  He’s still the best thing I’ve got going!!!  Who else loves me more than the Lord?  Who else has died for me?  Nobody!

If only I had settled this matter before my season of despair.  I urge you to do this today.  If you can, you will save yourself a ton of grief in the long run.  I promise!

Remember, Jesus is acquainted with grief, including our own.

Now, on to this week’s She Prayer Journals Weekend Workshop!

 

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Encouragement Tagged With: Man of Sorrow, Prayer Journal, War Room, Why was Jesus called Man of Sorrow?

About Gina

Gina Duke is the award-winning author of  Organizing Your Prayer Closet: A New and Life-Changing Way to Pray (Abingdon Press), that introduces the gift of structured prayer journaling.  You can enjoy her weekly #ShePrayerJournals weekend workshops on YouTube, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @TheGinaDuke.

Comments

  1. Chasity says

    April 21, 2017 at 10:50 pm

    I absolutely love your she prayer journal…I’ve always written things down that God speaks to me but since your organizing your prayer closet book has made me be more aware of my prayer time. Love it much!

    Reply
  2. Julianne says

    August 27, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    Hi I am so delighted I found your blog page, I really found
    you by error, while I was searching on Yahoo for
    something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say thank you for a
    remarkable post and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design), I
    don’t have time to read it all at the moment but I have book-marked it
    and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time
    I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the fantastic work.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept the Privacy Policy

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Up to Date

Signup to receive my latest blog posts.

Privacy Policy

Stay Connected

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • A Little Something for Your Hopes, But to Also Keep You Grounded
  • I’ve Got a Perfect Ending For You
  • I Want to Celebrate You and ALL You Do!
  • Our Lives are Like the March Weather
  • I’ve Got Something Started for You!

Join Us on Facebook

Join Us on Facebook

Categories

  • Book Reviews (6)
  • Church (23)
  • Conduct (15)
  • Corporate Mom (14)
  • Encouragement (21)
  • Event Planning (1)
  • Faith & Follow Through (11)
  • Grace (1)
  • Hearing God (14)
  • Leadership Tips (14)
  • Passion (7)
  • Pinterest Pins (11)
  • Planning (14)
  • Podcast Episodes (27)
  • Praise (8)
  • Prayer Journaling (150)
  • Prayer Tips (72)
  • Prayer Videos (3)
  • Press Releases (9)
  • Recipes (8)
  • Reconciliation (4)
  • Restoration (6)
  • Salvation (3)
  • Scripture (5)
  • Serving Others (2)
  • She Speaks (3)
  • Thankfulness (5)
  • Uncategorized (36)
  • Women of the Gospels (1)
  • Women's Ministry (84)

Archives

Latest Tweets

My Tweets

Recent Pins

Affiliations

She Speaks Graduate

Copyright © 2022 Gina Duke | Design by The Design Diva | Development by MRM | Privacy Policy

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.