The Grief Of God

Hosea 11:8-11

My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. (Hosea 11:8)

IN SPITE OF OUR PERCEPTIONS and theologies, God is not cold, sterile, and unmovable. In fact, the prophets and apostolic writers describe him in very emotional terms, fully capable of being grieved or provoked to jealousy. His essence and character never change, but his attitudes fit our situations. He is compassionate, joyful, affectionate, zealous, and much, much more.

If your heart aligns with God’s, you begin to see yourself and others with his overwhelming love and affection. You know who you are—completely adored. And you know who others are—the objects of his enormous affection. But you also know his grief for those who don’t enter into his love and his anger over whatever gets in the way. His favor can be exhilarating, but his disfavor can be frightening. We don’t realize how every attitude and emotion of God is somehow a reflection of his great love.

Think about it. In Scripture, God’s jealousy, grief, anger, and hate—what we would call negative emotions—are never what we take them for at face value. They are deeper reflections of his love. He hates the kind of hypocrisy that obscures his true face; he gets angry at the sin that has marred his beautiful children and disrupted our fellowship with him; he is jealous for our love and wants exclusive commitment; and he grieves over the fallenness of creation and the brokenness that blocks our vision of his goodness. He is neither petty nor capricious in any of these ways, but his responses are nevertheless real.

If you enter into this synchronization with God—and you should—you will not only feel his affection for those around you, but you will also feel the longings and grief of his Spirit. This is not an easy or comfortable calling, but it does carry the Father’s heartbeat. Embody it well, and carry it into every relationship you have.

{Father, your heart is infinite, and it can handle the enormity of this world’s sorrows. Mine cannot. Even so, give me a taste of your compassion, a hint of your heartbeat, a longing that reflects yours. Let me love as you love. Amen.