God hurts when you hurt

god-hurts-when-you-hurt

Our suffering makes no sense until we take into account the suffering of God.

In John 11, we read the story of Jesus visiting his friends Mary and Martha at a time of great sadness. Their brother Lazarus died of an illness, and Jesus failed to return on time to save him. Jesus arrives, visits the tomb, feels their grief, and weeps.

Why? Jesus knew full well He would be raising Lazarus from the dead in just a few minutes. Yet He weeps.

Let me suggest to you that God is not aloof. He is not distant, uncaring. He feels your pain. You cannot experience emotional or physical pain without God hurting along with you.

So let me ask you a question: How have you experienced God’s empathy in your life?

In these last few posts, we’ve been exploring the good news of the gospel—what it is and how to share it. I suggest we start with the question people are asking, and the big question right now is: Is God good? I believe He is, and this is the second of four things you need to know about God to begin to understand His goodness. After we talk about that, I want to come back to the three things God wants to do for you. Then we’ll look at how it all fits together.


Bible trivia:
Answer from last time: Elihu
New question: Three of Adam and Eve’s sons are named in the Bible. What are their names?

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    What do you get when you combine deep Christian faith with outside-the-box thinking? You get the fresh insights offered by Author Dwight Clough in his many books on personal and cultural transformation. Whether he’s tackling polarization or re-examining the route to heaven, his solutions are always unique, carefully thought out, simply explained, and compassionately conveyed with a vulnerable glimpse into Dwight’s own journey. Dwight is a national award winning writer, ghostwriter, publishing consultant, and author of over 20 books including End the Divide, The Gift of Transformation, Rethinking Our War on Poverty, Am I Going to Heaven When I Die?, and What It Means to Follow Jesus. Dwight and his wife Kim have four young adult children. Dwight loves exploring the back roads of rural Wisconsin.

     
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