When my wife or children suffer, I suffer. It hurts me to see my loved ones hurting. I remember when my youngest daughter, at 18 months, escaped her crib, fell, and cut her lip badly. We rushed her to the emergency room, and they recommended stitches. Being a squirrely and ambitious child, she would not stay still. So, the emergency room team strapped her down to a board from head to toe. As she was helplessly pinned down, she aimed her big blue eyes at me and said, “Daddy!” That tore me up.
He Suffers When We Suffer
Similarly, Isaiah describes the Lord in chapter 63 as suffering with the children of Israel. When they suffered, he suffered. When they were distressed, he was distressed. “The angel of his presence saved them, in his love and in his mercy, he redeemed them. And he lifted them and carried them all the days of old.”(verse 9) As much as my children mean to me, God’s children mean more to him.
Insufferable Rebels
As a result of his tender mercy and suffering, did the people of God run into their Father’s arms? Did they look toward the Lord with eyes of love and faith, crying, “Daddy?” No, verse 10 tells us they “rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit.” They trampled God’s grace, rejecting His love and tender mercies. But why would they do that? What moves someone to decline the creator’s comfort? To disregard God’s love?
Many reject God’s love because they love their sin more, and as a result, God has given them over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28). In fact, they hate God because of their rebellion and his supreme justice. When they are around His presence or His people, they feel conviction. “Everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (John 3:20). Light and darkness simply do not mix.
Suffering and the Blame Game
Another reason people reject God is because they blame him for their past hurts. Isaiah 63:10 teaches us that God will become the enemy of the rebellious and fight against them. James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” And in the same chapter, verse 4, James teaches us that friendship with the world is enmity with God. “Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” But God only rejects those who have already rejected Him.
In God’s mercy, he allows suffering in the rebellious sinner’s life to draw them back to Him. It is a fact that wealth and prosperity inhibit most men from seeking the Lord. Jesus, in Matthew 19:24, mentioned that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. So, in His mercy, he allows trials in our lives to funnel us toward His throne. The rebellious blame God for their misfortunes; the humble and repentant blame themselves for their demise and run back to God.
Eternal Suffering
God gives grace to the humble because they accept responsibility for where their rebellion has brought them and are quick to confess and forsake their sin. The proud either rebel or redefine their sin. The rebel runs and has nothing to do with God, while the lukewarm attempts to justify their lukewarmness and compromise. They want Jesus as a savior but not as Lord, so they cling to doctrines of devils that teach sin can coexist with grace. They desire to be a friend of the world while pretending to serve God.
What these unregenerate posers don’t realize is that the Holy Spirit is pervasive; He influences and changes the whole person. God’s power impacts all facets of life. The rebel can run, but he cannot hide. Someday, he will face Jesus on judgment day and confess that He is Lord. On that frightful day, the poser will be exposed, hearing “Depart from me, I never knew you” from our benevolent dictator. There is no “pulling the wool” over God’s eyes; He beholds all things, the good and the evil. (Proverbs 15:3)
The Solution
Are you going through a hard time? Does it seem that God is not “for” you? I urge you to repent; expose your heart to God. Confess and forsake your wickedness. Commit to God that you’ll surrender all to Him, whether things get better or worse. God’s heart is to bless his children; he suffers when we suffer. But never lose track of the fact that God is Holy and is to be feared. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Psalm 2:12 KJVS
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
