Love and Pain

Does God hurt over the sin of man?  Yes.  Genesis recounts in chapter 6, “⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”  It pains God to see men do evil.  There is no such thing as a loving parent who wishes for their child to make choices that will not fulfill them and lead to their best life.  It pains parents to see children make such choices; it breaks their hearts almost to the point of death.  If we being evil can so love our own children and be so distraught by their evil choices, how much more distraught and pained is our perfect Father in heaven.

What causes the pain from love?  It is separation.  When you love someone, the most intense pain you can feel is by being separated.  As I study Jesus’ crucifixion, it appears to at least me that His greatest suffering happened when He became separated from God the Father.  Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?”  He was again quoting Scripture (Ps 22) as a response to what the evil one thought was his greatest triumph.  But the pain and disparity existed within Him even in so great a cause.  Jesus was doing exactly what His Father willed.  He was fulfilling His purpose.  And while He was undoubtedly in great physical pain, His heart was broken as His communion with the Father was broken for a time.  “Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?” (Ps 22:1)

Another form of separation comes when you see them make decisions that could harm them or take away from what they could become.  I believe there are many examples of God and Jesus being grieved over man who would remain hard hearted and not conform to truth.  Many times the church leaders would say nothing in return to the truth in Jesus’ actions or accusations, yet refuse to yield.  Why are we like that?  Even when there is not a single reason for us to remain stubborn and hard hearted, we so often refuse to move.  We are determined to exercise our authority over some part of our world, even if it hurts us and others.  This is extremely painful to watch when such a person is your loved one.  We agonize over what we can do to help them choose and believe in truth, while forgetting that even Jesus, who allowed their free will, did not change their minds.

Jesus in the will of His Father and doing exactly His purpose was in pain over separation from His Father and was grieved over man’s hart heart.  While we may share His grieving over man’s hard heart, we will never share His pain from separation from God.  We may share some pain as we are separated from our loved ones that allows us to relate to that pain, we can remain assured that it is not as intense.  We can also be hopeful knowing our Savior experienced this pain and He can touch us with peace and comfort if we will still our hearts and reach for Him. 

If we are going to love as God loves, as Jesus loves, as His Spirit within us loves, then we can be confident that there will be pain over those who remain hard hearted and turn away from the truth.  But that pain is what tells us that we are truly in His will.  If we felt no pain then we’d have to wonder if He was with us.  It is better to be in Christ and in pain of heart over those whom He loves, than to feel nothing. 

So often, however, it just doesn’t feel like it.