Starting the Process of Healing from Church Hurt
Jesus Weeps with You
Day 3
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At one point while fleeing from King Saul’s unjust persecution, David became so desperate that he ran into enemy territory and tried to hide in Gath, home of the Philistines. This is the same territory where David had conquered Goliath just five chapters earlier in 1 Samuel.
David went from being anointed as king and slaying a giant to hiding from King Saul and the Philistines. This is the setting in which David wrote Psalm 56—most notably verse 8:
“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle” (ESV).
Throughout the Psalms, there are more than fifty references to God seeing and hearing us in our pain. If there’s one truth we can gather from the Psalms, it’s this: God is tender toward those who suffer.
Jesus shows God’s tenderness in flesh.
When Lazarus passed away in John 11, Mary and Martha brought their tears and questions to Jesus. He didn’t respond by fixing or negating their emotions—he wept with them. This is the way of Jesus.
Dane Ortlund writes, “The cumulative testimony of the four Gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about him, his deepest impulse, his most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it.”
In your suffering from church hurt, Jesus moves toward you. Your pain doesn’t scare him or push him away. If you feel betrayed, he understands. If you can’t grasp the hypocrisy you’ve seen, know that he’s seen worse. In fact, he died for it.
On the cross, Jesus was separated from his Father so that you never have to be.
In Matthew 27:46, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
The cross is Jesus taking what we deserve so God can stay with us rather than forsake us. The Father briefly turned away from the Son so that he could lovingly face us forever. As you hurt, look to Jesus and know that he has made a way for God to weep with you. He counts your tossings and bottles your tears.
Prayer
Jesus, thank you for being the kind of Savior who weeps. You see every struggle and hold every tear. Let me feel your nearness. Help me trust that you’re not distant from my suffering, but you’re in it with me.
Reflection
What would change in me if I believed that God records our misery and bottles our tears? (Psalm 56:8)
Where have I seen glimpses of God’s tenderness recently, even if small?
