A God Who Weeps

[teresaq]

from a friend of mine:

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?tid=1353119913311#/group.php?v=app_2373072738&gid=161313749295

It's been a sad week. Someone lost a baby.Someone else has only two months to live. This sadness, though real, is like a drop in the bucket of sorrow compared to the losses in Haiti. As we are crying out in pain for God’s help, it’s hard to imagine that God on His throne actually feels our pain, especially when we can’t even hear His reply. But the emotional distance between God's throne and our human hearts can be bridged by knowing Jesus Christ.

Jesus wept when Lazarus died, (John 11:35) and lest we think He was simply crying for His buddy, it’s important to note that Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, so He must have cried for something more. Perhaps He was weeping for the entire human race. Maybe He was weeping because there even has to be such a thing as death.

Most people don’t like the thought of their King crying, but apparently Jesus did this more than once. How strange His crying must have been at the height of His popularity and what some assumed was His political career. Riding a donkey into Jerusalem, Jesus was cheered on by children waving palm branches and people shouting “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” Then, even while they were shouting “Peace,” Jesus stopped His donkey and began to weep. The Bible says He was weeping for Jerusalem, but He could just as likely have been weeping for you and me because God always weeps when people turn away from His love. This was different than all the crying prophets who had come before Him—it wasn't some cry baby sobbing because He didn't get His way. I imagine it was more like a roar--the heart of God breaking because He was losing His children—children who had misunderstood His motives, children who had listened to the His enemy’s lies, children that He would never force to love Him against their will.

It doesn’t seem so silly for us to cry for a good reason--especially when we remember that our Creator often wept. The author of Hebrews tells us that “During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.” (Hebrews 5:7) God’s empathy with our sadness did not stop then, but it continues today. Our God does not take our pain lightly; He even stores our tears in His bottle. (Psalm 56:8,9) Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would become a man of sorrows and acquainted with our grief (Isaiah 53:3). Yes, Jesus not only died for us, but He went so far as to carry our sorrow (Isaiah 53:4).

So when the world drags us down and we cry out to God, it helps us to remember that God has felt our pain, endured our agony and continues to understand our human distress because through Jesus, God has become one of us!

For hurting people like us, that’s really good news!

Cherilyn Clough

www.myfatherinheavenisperfect.com

[teresaq]

done! :)

[karl]

So when the world drags us down and we cry out to God, it helps us to remember that God has felt our pain, endured our agony and continues to understand our human distress because through Jesus, God has become one of us!

And He sings over us. ("He will joy over you with singing.")

And sometimes laughs at us ("will hold them in derision.")

He's got feelings toward us.

Kind of mind-boggling, really.

It's as if the owner and occupant of the penthouse at Rockefeller Plaza had the ultimate care and empathy for each of the insects dwelling in the soil of his shrubbery down at ground level.

And that's a weak illustration.