A God Who Weeps?
Does God weep?
We had a great small group last night. Part of the discussion was about the will of God. One couple talked about how some people would tell them, “I know it’s tough, but this is the will of God,” when they had a miscarriage. Needless to say, they didn’t take that as one of the more timely things people could say.
I brought up that I thought if people did not have room in their view of God that He weeps, then their view is to small of Him.
It seems that He probably wept harder than this couple did over the death of their child. God is not distant in the midst of pain and suffering. He wants to relieve it (Mt. 11:28). After all, is this not the very meaning of compassion?
It’s not that God is ever out of control, but to think that God is waiting to kill someone in our family “just so we can have a trial and therefore realize that He is God and we need Him,” is a pretty twisted view.
I gave the human example of the following:
It would be like me throwing my child down the stairs and then expecting him to crawl back up the stairs, hold on my ankle, and then beg for me to protect and provide for him.
Although many may not say it in the example I used above, some still have this type of view of God. Somehow, He hurts us so that we know He is good. In fact, for some, this becomes the totality of their Christian life and therefore they make a “god out of suffering” (i.e. if you are not suffering you are either doing something wrong or you are getting ready to have “the hammer dropped on you”) Seriously!?!?
I am not saying that suffering doesn’t exist for the godly. It does. It will. Check out Romans 5 and 8. My point is that if you have such a cold view of God during trials, you will eventually have a cold view towards others in the midst of their suffering.
Do you believe God cries? Do you believe that when someone dies, He mourns deeper than you ever will? Do you believe that God feels our tragedies in life deeper than we ever could?
Does your view of God include that He weeps?
Love Truth
Vernon
This is the third time that this has come up in the last month or so. At Metro we talked about Lazarus and the two days of delay and that Jesus wept, not because Lazarus was dead but beacuse of the heartache of Mary and Martha. I do believe God weeps over our heartaches. But, then my question reamains, why does he not come sooner? In the story of Lazarus, Jesus waited 2 days before going to the town. But, it says, when he arrived Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. This leads one to believe that even if Jesus had left immediately upone hearing of L’s sickness, L still would have been dead for 2 days when Jesus arrived. So then why allow the heartache to last 4 days instead of 2? He still would have needed to raise Lazarus from the dead. He still could have wept and shown compassion to M&M. Why drag it out.
Erin,
I think that is a brilliant question. I think that ultimately, we will not know until we see Him face to face.
Yet, I think another aspect of this has stunned me even more than Him “not intervening quick enough.” The more and more that I see my own depravity and the depravity of the world, it really stuns me that He intervenes at all.
Therefore, one of the things that gets exposed many times in my desire for “intervention” is the aspect that I believe I am entitled for Him to intervene. I am not saying this is you, but just giving some thoughts that I have had in the process of “God not intervening quick enough.”
I am not saying that I understand the “delays,” but the reality of the grace of Him stepping in is mind blowing to me.
What are your thoughts?
Love Truth
Vernon