When we suffer-Jesus understands

Suffering is all around us. From the moment we draw our first breath until our last, we encounter pain, loss, disappointment, and heartache. The poet Robert Burns observed, “Man was made to mourn.” How many of us cry out in our darkest moments, wondering if anyone truly understands the depth of our anguish?

This desperation is captured perfectly by one of the Bible writers: “Does it mean nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see if there is any suffering like mine” (Lamentations 1:12).

In our pain, we can feel isolated and misunderstood. We all know people who want to talk of struggles they’re going through but rarely ask about yours. Human sympathy has its limits. When people do listen, rarely do they ask about the deeper wounds of our hearts.

This is where Jesus stands apart. Yes, others have been crucified—it was a common Roman execution method. But what makes Christ’s suffering unique is not merely the physical agony, but who He was and why He endured it. Even as He faced His own torment, Jesus remained compassionate toward others. On His way to the cross, He told the weeping women, “Do not weep for me” (Luke 23:28), thinking of their sorrow even in His darkest hour. When passersby mocked Him as He hung dying (Matthew 27:39), Jesus experienced the same cruel indifference from the world that we sometimes feel when we suffer. He knows what it feels like to be dismissed, abandoned, and misunderstood.

This is why prayer is significant. We don’t pray to some impersonal power who’s never been hurt. We pray to God who’s walked through the valley of suffering Himself and promises to walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23). In Jesus, there’s divine empathy. He’s the God of tears. Trust in him and He promises comfort. Jesus turned His disciples’ suffering into joy (John 16:20), and He can do the same for you. For a free story of Jesus life contact www.lifeofhope.online/contact