Here are my concluding thoughts on how God hurts for us in our rebellion and along with us in our pains.
God hurts too (Part 2 of 3)
My last post was about how God hurts with us. When we hurt, he hurts too. Here are a couple more thoughts about that.
I ran across something that the prophet Isaiah said (Isaiah 63:9). I’ve included several versions of it since each carries its own sort of soothing nuance.
In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.
In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them . All the days of old.
In all their troubles, he was troubled, too. He didn’t send someone else to help them. He did it himself, in person. Out of his own love and pity he…
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God hurts too (Part 1 of 3)
I am re-posting these three short essays from a few years ago because it seems to me that though we’re quite aware of our own pain we seldom think about the pain that God experiences everyday.
I’m corresponding with a professed atheist friend of mine. I say “professed” because it just seems to untenable to me that someone could say that they know there is no God. Agnostic? Sure. Atheist? To me, that’s a pretty hard sell. Anyway, in one of our “conversations” I wrote the following.
Regarding God’s frustrating and frequently implemented “non-interference policy…” I have my personal irritations about how and when he chooses to intervene in human affairs. But here are some thoughts I have about it. I wouldn’t dare call them “reasons he doesn’t intervene” as much as what might possibly be going on in his thinking on this.
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The Runaway Christmas Sheep
I've told this story a number of times before, each a therapeutic catharsis. Since my healing from the PTSD initiated by this event improves with each writing and every reading, if you care at all about my emotional well-being, please read this and tell me you did. I had seen a live Nativity scene at another …
When Being Needy Is a Good Thing (Part 2 of 2)
In Part 1 I shared how some of the best witnesses are the neediest ones. Now, from my own experience, observation of others, and the New Testament I’ll share how some of the most effective church planters and missionaries are ones who go out, as did the original apostles, with little to nothing. As with …
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