SEPTEMBER 10 – God's grief

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” - Matthew 23:37

Yesterday, I watched as media coverage of the thousands of refugees arriving daily in Europe was being repeated by all TV news channels throughout the day and night – desperate people who have fled from their homelands and persecution, carrying their few possessions with them. The scenes were heartbreaking as I watched thousands of men, women, newborn babies, pregnant women, and children who had become separated from their families, follow railway tracks to reach and cross, the border into Austria and perseved safety. They have one thing in common – they want to reach a better land and future.

Over the last two weeksof news reports, three images remain burned into my mind and heart. The first, a young man, barely more than seventeen years old. When he was interviewed he had with him a younger sibling around six years of age, and his elderly, infirm grandmother, a wheelchair, and two bags of possessions. This young man had walked 100 miles, pushing his grandmother on smooth ground, in the wheelchair. When the ground got rough, he carried her on his back. Second was the sight of a child, perhaps seven years old, lagging behind the stream of refugees he was following, carrying a baby in his arms, and with grim determination on his face. Third, but I know it won't be the last as I watch further news reports, echoes the first. A man, maybe forty years old, with his elderly mother, arms around his neck, clingly on tightly as he carried her on his back to safety. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends “ John 15:13

The majority of these refugees are not Christians, but over and over again, when briefly interviewed, they speak of God – their dependence on God – and believing that He will help them. As a Christian, it makes you think, doesn't it. Would we have the same attitude in similar circumstances – when things get rough? Maybe I've missed it, I don't know. But only once have I heard someone virtually ask if God cares about their plight.

Is God grieving over the suffering of these pwople Scripture indicates that He does feel anguish – deeper than you and I could ever understand. In Judges 10:16 we are told that He “could bear Israel's misery no longer.” In Hosea 11:8 He anguishes “My heart is changed within me; all my ccompassion is aroused.”

As Jesus approached Jerusalem He mourned and wept over the devastation that was coming – not just to Jerusalem at that time, but in the world, down through the ages.

Yes, God cares, and this is today's choice of music - “Does God Care?”  LIVE - the Gaithers. Click on the picture to listen.