Does God Hurt?

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: Psalm 138:8

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Memory verse: John 10:27-28...27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Today's reading: JOB 14-16 ACTS 9:22-43

Does God Hurt?

We are created in God's image(Genesis 1). We are creatures that can reason and emotions run deep with us. We are hurt when people do things to hurt us. So, does God's heart break when we do things against Him?

In the days of Jeremiah, God's people were worshiping everything but God and it was breaking His heart.

Jeremiah 8:Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;

I mourn, and horror grips me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing

for the wound of my people?

Chapter 9: 1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water

and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night

for the slain of my people. 2 Oh, that I had in the desert

a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people

and go away from them; for they are all adulterers,

a crowd of unfaithful people. 3 “They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth

that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,”

...declares the Lord.

God's hurt is real.

If we are really about loving God with everything that we are(Matthew 22:37-40), why would we chance hurting Him?

We all know how it feels to be guilty of hurting those dearest to us-even the slightest hurt. If we deny these feelings, help is needed.

Why is it so easy for some of us to ignore the hurt we obviously cause to God's heart?

Pain is real to us all-God included. Jesus went through all that physical and emotional pain of the cross to restore us-to make us right before God in order for us to keep hurting Him?

There were tools called 'spoke-shaves' and after our Civil war many swords were fashioned into these 'spoke-shaves'. These were used to make wooden spokes for wagon wheels. People learned to turn weapons into tools to help our hurting country grow. Isaiah 2:4 speaks of 'turning swords into plowshares'.

Yes, some of us are pleasing God but some of us need to make some 'plowshares'. We should pray God turns our emotional weapons into instruments of love and compassion. Our hearts are meant to heal-to help heal-to help-not to hurt.

Bottom line is that when we hurt, God hurts. When we rejoice, He rejoices. When we sin, we hurt Him. One might say, "God is a big boy-He can handle it". (That is the way some folks talk about someone they really do not love...)

Jesus said in John 15:11 ►I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

He did not say that he did any of this to hurt any one of us...but that our joy may be full. When our joy is full, God's joy is full.

What do you and I need to do right this minute?

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven,

Forgive me God for grieving you-I want Your joy to be full. Guide me in getting this right.

Gracious and merciful God!

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen