What is God’s view of our fallen, messy world?
I can answer this by telling you about Lisa, a woman with developmental delays who attends Joyful Noise, a local, weekly church service for adults with disabilities.Most of the time Lisa is happy and smiling. She laughs hard and loud when something strikes her funny and she sings, claps and whoops it up without reservation during the worship portion of the gathering. I can’t help but smile whenever I’m around Lisa.
During prayer time however, she takes on a whole new demeanor. As prayer requests are given for a host of needs, illness, death, injury, family problems and job loss, Lisa cries. She is deeply and genuinely touched by the suffering of others and as each prayer need is vocalized her tears flow harder and faster until someone else in the group is moved to bring her tissues and a comforting pat on the shoulder or back
As I sat a few rows back and observed Lisa this past week, I have to admit my initial thought was a nonchalant, ‘Lisa is crying again.‘
Immediately I had a God thought interrupt the deepest part of my being.
“Lisa is My heart. Look at her and see Me. My heart also breaks as I cry for the suffering of My children and My creation.”
These questions have been asked over and over throughout generations of humanity; is God interested in the condition of the world? Where is He when devastation, hunger, tragedy and evil overwhelm us? Does He even notice the pain, suffering, loss and evil we see and hear about every day? And if He does, why doesn’t He do something about it?
He already did. He came as one of us, wrapped in a body of flesh, walked and lived among us, revealed the Father’s loving heart and then willingly died for every sad and sorry condition known to mankind. Jesus revealed this brokenness of heart when he looked out over Jerusalem and lamented. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!’ (Luke 13:34).
Tragedy and suffering was not in God’s original plan. He created a perfect earth and a perfect human but left the door of free will open, fully understanding the risk that man could slip through that portal of choice and mess it all up. But He did it anyway, even with the knowledge we would break His heart, because He wanted someone to love and someone to love Him back.
As we move into the Christmas season remember why Jesus came. He has a ‘Lisa’ heart and He cries for and cares about you.