18th September 2026
Out of sorts
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)
It was just one of those days. The computer was playing up. There was something amiss with the internet, and I couldn’t access my bank account. A hinge had broken on a kitchen cupboard, and I couldn’t find the same type to replace it. The towel rail had come off the bathroom wall. It had such an odd fixing and I couldn’t see how to get it back on. Plus a few other issues. Do you have days like that?
I decided that I couldn’t cope with any of it. So I went out for a coffee, muttering to myself on the way that: ‘we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God’ (Acts 14:22 KJV). But I don’t think Paul had in mind the sort of problems I was having when he warned the disciples of the Galatian churches of the trials and hardships of the Christian life. There are sisters and brothers in the world facing imprisonment and death for their faith. My challenges were far removed from the challenges in their lives. But what if we are thoroughly out of sorts, caused just by the little things of life going wrong?
We know Jesus faced great tribulation – more than we can imagine. He faced up to the devil. He faced opposition and rejection. He faced torture and crucifixion. But surely, he must have also faced one of those days full of the little irritations of life? Maybe at home in Nazareth he’d been up half the night helping his mother look after one of his brothers and sisters who was sick, and the rest of them were being really annoying. Maybe he’d torn his hand on a nail. The family donkey was having an uncooperative morning. Maybe Joseph was cross about something. Whatever it was, maybe he was well versed in having ‘one of those days’.
And when he did, he would have dealt with it with love and patience and wisdom. So if we are feeling assaulted by the frustrations of the world in which we live, then we can confidently go to him for help and ‘…draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Hebrews 4:16 ESV).
Prayer
Our loving Father, we give you thanks that we can come to you through the One who experienced all that we encounter in our journey to you, and who dealt perfectly with all the little things of life that can so annoy us and frustrate us. Amen.
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Study by: Hilary Buck About the author: |
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Local congregation:
Grace Communion in Lewes
The House of Friendship
208 High Street
Lewes
BN7 2NS
Meeting time:
Sunday 11:00 am
Local congregational contact:
Hilary Buck
Email: lewes@gracecom.church
Like us on www.facebook.com/Grace Communion Lewes
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church