Where do you go for help? Who do you turn to? Have you ever thought about stepping boldly into God’s throne room in heaven to ask for what you need?
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 4:16 (NKJV)
The only reason we can enter God’s throne room is because Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection opened the way for us. The book of Hebrews explains that Jesus is a far greater High Priest than any earthy high priest. At his death, burial and resurrection, instead of going into a Temple here on earth like they did in the Old Testament, He went straight to the heavenly throne room – completely opening the way for us to go there too. That’s pretty incredible!
So let’s take a closer look at the verse above.
The word “boldly” has to do with having full and open access to God. We actually have the right to stand before God with fearless confidence because Jesus made the way available for us. We are therefore able to speak openly and honestly with our Heavenly Father, face to face.
And we can be fearless in doing this because we stand before the “throne of grace” – the throne of undeserved kindness. And there we experience “mercy” – God’s tender love and compassion, and find His grace or kindness is extended to us.
Mercy and grace help us
And this is what His mercy and grace does. It helps us in our time of need. This particular word for “help” is only found twice in the New Testament – here, and in Acts 27:17. In Acts 27 we find Paul in a ship, on his way to Rome as a prisoner. But they encounter a massive storm that lasts for 2 weeks. The ship is taking a colossal battering by the wind and waves. So “they used cables to undergird the ship” (Acts 27:17). This was to strengthen the wooden ship and keep it from breaking apart in this tremendous ongoing storm.
The word “cables” is the same word used in Hebrews 4:16 for “help.” So here’s the picture. God’s tender love and compassion (His mercy), and His kindness (grace) extend to form bands or cables (or “help”) around us, right when we need Him most.
The help we really need
In the severest of storms we face, sometimes the help we need is not something we can define in earthly terms. It’s not so much the provision of finance or food, the healing, the restoring of relationships, or all the other things we ask for in earthly terms – although God often provides these too. But the help we really need is God’s loving, kind and compassionate arms around us, providing strength and enabling, right at the very time when everything seems to be about to fall apart.
And we find this kind of help in the throne room of God where we can freely and fearlessly stand before our Heavenly Father. And He will never turn us away.
What is it that you need to boldly come before God’s throne of grace for today?
