Relatable

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13Things have changed over the years. There was a time when certain subjects like depression, anxiety, bipolarity, stress, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), addictions, abuse etc. were never discussed out loud. Today, people are beginning to feel comfortable sharing their struggles. From sports figures, entertainers, and actors, it is encouraging to hear that others can relate to another’s condition.Jesus was relatable. He understood the human condition because He experienced it firsthand (1 John 1:14). When someone has gone through what you have gone through, it opens the lines of communication because it is no longer what one thinks but what one knows. Jesus was born to a single mother (Luke 1:31), was accused of things He didn’t do (Matthew 27:12), the prophet Isaiah said He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; (Isaiah 53:3), He experienced hunger (Matthew 4:2), thirst (John 19:28), tiredness (john 4:6), and death (Luke 23:46).The Lord knows life on this side is hard but He says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).”There will be periods of darkness, challenges, disappointments, persecutions, upheaval, and more but they are temporary and there is an eternal joy that awaits us. But while here realize that in Christ, there is hope and hope increases faith and your faith encourages the faith of others allowing you to walk in peace ultimately glorifying God.“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:2-5