We are so limited in the coping of stress that comes unexpectedly into our lives. Most of the time, all we know is to respond on an emotional level. Our reaction seems to be for a given moment. The intention, especially when we pray, is for a change that reverses our stress back to a level that is less challenging. Unfortunately, we are limited by our own humanity. The value of our text under these circumstances is that God understands.
God understands the background, the miscellaneous details that come together initiating the problem. Our brain is not big enough to realize all the various factors that come together. It could be from any direction by any number of people over any time period that set things in motion ready to attack.
God understands the motives that are involved making the situation to feel overwhelming. In fact, motives could be many from a wide range of people. Christ had to cope with various groups of people who rejected him, who felt intimidated by him. Those motives could arise from jealousy to hatred to a lack of understanding on their part.
Let us stop where we are and be more specific. The problems that enter our lives do not just suddenly appear. They originate from a background of expectations held by others. Likewise, problems must have a basis for how to develop motives causing rejection or unreasonable expectations. Take the case of Joseph.
Out of jealousy his brothers threw him in a cistern and sold him to a passing caravan who sold him to a prominent Egyptian. Then the Egyptianās wife wanted Joseph to be intimate, but he refused resulting in his imprisonment. The background was a poor relationship with his brothers, and several wanting to take advantage of him. We have motive in addition to the background details. All along, Joseph had no idea what was going on behind the scenes they contributed to his problems.
God understands the method of how our problems are activated. He knows there is some ticking time bomb waiting to explode in our lives, usually unexpectedly. God is fully aware that the way these things happen can involve grief, financial issues, relational issues, physical problems, and a host of other things that are the method for kicking off those times that are difficult to cope with. Even though not a lot of details are written in the Bible, itās reasonable to think that Joseph experienced some of these methods that caused him such as his concern for his aging father.
God understands how we cope. Depending on the situation, we might cope quite well to hardly able to cope at all. However, God understands our ability to cope with our intention to bring some part of our problem to resolution. A good example of coping is Jesus when he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before he was arrested to ultimately be crucified. He expressed concern for the final solution that his Father have his will be done.
When Scripture says that Jesus was tempted in all points like we are yet without sin, weāre drawing attention to ourselves that Jesus also experienced a background of people and circumstances coordinating in such a way that led to his death. There was a motive behind the murder of Jesus one of which the religious leaders would lose her job if Jesus succeeded in an earthly Messiahship. The method for killing Jesus included the betrayal of Judas into the hands of the enemy. Jesus coped by submitting himself to the will of the Heavenly Father. So, we can now see how the Scriptures are so true about Christ understanding our stressors and problems and temptations.
Christian Writer 