“A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench” (Matthew 12:20)

What a description of the people Christ came to save! There’s nothing more worthless  than a bruised reed. It’s good for nothing except fertilizer. And there’s nothing more foul than the stench of a smoking flax. The first thing people did when they entered a smoke-filled room, is snuff it out between their fingers. But God regenerates worthless and foul sinners into beloved saints. “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).

The God of bruised reeds and smoking flax knows how to restore saints who stumble. He understands they’re like small boats tossed up and down by every wave…weak, without strength, without wisdom, without foresight, afraid of man, and worried about the future. Yet, weak as they are, and because they’re weak, God tells them, “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

God sympathizes with our human weakness! He’s gentle, tender, and considerate! “God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? … Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness” (Hebrews 12:7-11).

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).