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God Is Holding Your Heart
God is not far away in times of death. In fact, he’s closer than ever in these times. That nearness should inspire comfort, not fear or shame. If your view of God usually involves him being mad at you for something you’ve done, you need to get a new view of God. That’s not the way Jesus treated people, which means it’s not the way God treats people, especially when they are suffering.
God empathizes with our pain. Empathy is the capacity to comprehend and share the feelings of someone else. That describes God perfectly. The Bible frequently talks about how God “hears our cries” or “sees our suffering.” The little deaths we go through move the heart of God. He knows the future, but his foreknowledge doesn’t make him callous to our suffering in the present.
Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he first met with his sisters, Martha and Mary. They were brokenhearted, of course—even angry. You can hear it in their voices in John 11. At one point, when Jesus saw the grief of Mary and the others, he was overcome with compassion and began to weep.
Consider how much that says about God’s heart. Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew their sorrow would become joy in a matter of hours, maybe minutes. So when he saw the grief of Mary and Martha, he could have responded, “Where’s your faith? Where’s your gratitude? Be strong! Stop whining and just trust God.”
Instead, he wept. Think about that. Their pain mattered to him. He didn’t ignore the loss; he validated it. He sat with them in their suffering and he shared their tears.
Why? Why would our tears matter to God?
It’s simple. Because we matter to God. And not just our productivity, or our holiness, or our generosity.
Our loss matters.
Our pain matters.
Our anger matters.
Our anxiety matters.
Our confusion matters.
Our disappointment matters.
God is moved by your tears. When you weep, he weeps.
Respond
If you are going through pain and grief, imagine Jesus mourning with you. Visualize his embrace as you cry, argue, or vent. He’s not judging you—he’s holding you.
About this Plan
All kinds of deaths are woven through this life, from the physical death of loved ones to the figurative deaths of dreams, relationships, careers, trust, security, beliefs, and plans. Though grief is a universal experience, those who hope in God have a way through it. With great compassion, Pastor Tim Timberlake, author of The Art of Overcoming, shines the light on our ultimate hope: no death is ever the end.
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