janbear
01-05-2007, 03:59 PM
The God who stays close
Many people are convinced that when they are brokenhearted, when they grieve deeply over their losses, God is displeased. God is seen as a person who expects us to be happy even in the face of trauma and loss. He is someone who asks us to "snap out of it" and "cheer up". As a result, we anticipate rejection rather than compassion.
How surprising it is to hear that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted! He does not expect cheerfulness. He does not reject us. He is compassionate and responsive. He is close-not far away.
In some families, expressing difficult emotions is met with rejection and emotional withdrawal. It is this kind of emotional distance that we now expect from God. It is not always easy to trust God to be close to us when we are brokenhearted. And it is not always easy to allow ourselves the vulnerability of such closeness. But God is eager to heal us, to restore us and to save us when our spirits are crushed.
-Dale and Juanita Ryan
Many people are convinced that when they are brokenhearted, when they grieve deeply over their losses, God is displeased. God is seen as a person who expects us to be happy even in the face of trauma and loss. He is someone who asks us to "snap out of it" and "cheer up". As a result, we anticipate rejection rather than compassion.
How surprising it is to hear that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted! He does not expect cheerfulness. He does not reject us. He is compassionate and responsive. He is close-not far away.
In some families, expressing difficult emotions is met with rejection and emotional withdrawal. It is this kind of emotional distance that we now expect from God. It is not always easy to trust God to be close to us when we are brokenhearted. And it is not always easy to allow ourselves the vulnerability of such closeness. But God is eager to heal us, to restore us and to save us when our spirits are crushed.
-Dale and Juanita Ryan