SEASONS OF LOVE

God meant the stars that He made. God meant the Life that He gave.

God meant the joy that He vows. God meant the words that He said.

And maybe God meant the hurt, too.

Life is a waiting room. How well do you bide your time, waiting to be called? Do you follow Jesus? Do you obey His commands to love others and treat them as you would have them treat you while sitting there in that waiting room of life? Do you want to hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant” from the Great Physician when you go to meet Him? Jesus said to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him. He said if we love Him, we would obey His commands. 

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

John 14:15 

In the corner of the waiting room is an active beehive. Sometimes, we get stung. The sting of a hurt goes deep. But, I have learned that damage to my heart raises my awareness of God’s hurt.

Does God hurt? 

Now, there’s an interesting question. I wonder what Bible verses I could think of or find that support this. The first one that comes to mind is the one about when Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives facing Jerusalem, knowing not everyone would recognize His coming to them.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets

and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed

to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks

under her wings, but you were not willing!”

Luke 13:34 

Jesus knew not everyone would believe in Him. But, He went to the cross anyways. If you have decided not to believe and to not recognize Jesus as the Son of God, who died on the cross for your sins, God hurts for you. Not loving Jesus is hurtful to God. Not loving God, the Son is hurtful to God, the Father. It’s like taking care of your baby, feeding her milk and the right food, changing diapers, playing, teaching her and reading to her, caring for her, loving her for 18 years and then she blatantly tells you she wishes she had a different mother. How many parents have had a teenager say this?

God is hurt when we don’t trust Him—when we turn our back on Him. There is hurt when we go against Him, come up with terms that promote distance from Him, separation from Him, even hatred of Him. He is hurt when we walk a prodigal path. 

Jesus wept.

John 11:35 

This verse comes from the time when Mary was distraught over the death of her brother, Lazarus. She cried bitterly and Jesus was deeply moved in spirit because of her terrible loss. He shared in the hurt that Mary felt. But, I’m sure you know what happened next. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been dead for four days! I think of Psalm 138:8…God will perfect that which concerns me. And Hebrews 4:15…God is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. All the more reason to always be praying!

God was probably hurt when Jonah wouldn’t go to Nineveh the first time. I think it says God grieved that he had made man around the time of the flood. Lots of kings and rulers in the Old Testament did evil in the eyes of the LORD and this was hurtful. Can you think of other verses explaining God’s hurt?

Damage to the heart raises awareness of God’s hurt. Maybe this is one of the reasons God allows the hurt. Somehow, knowing God is not immune to hurt can help me bear mine. It makes me see a human quality in God. (Of course, He came first and we are made in His image.) It makes me sympathetic. It helps me endure my hurt. He is greater and His hurt is more costly.

And now, here is some good news: God can heal the broken-hearted. I discovered years ago that the local drugstore doesn’t sell any band-aids for wounds on the heart. What gauze can be placed over a bleeding heart? What repair can be made to fix a damaged heart? (And I'm not talking about the physical realm.)

He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

 

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18 

God heals. He is our Mender and Restorer. Which brings me back to my poem ‘Seasons of Love’. God loves us throughout the year, throughout the seasons, throughout difficulties, over hill, over dale, through the woods and on the trail. He can make it right. Trust Him to restore and deliver with sufficient grace and JOY!