Tremble Back
Read: Isaiah 63:9 | Hosea 11
Isn’t it interesting how hurting alone seems to be worse than hurting with someone by your side? There’s a special kind of peace that arises when you find out you’re not the only one who has walked through the fire. Relatability can be a powerful connection between people of the same trial. The one who has made it through your current situation has capacity for empathetic responses. They have an innate ability for comforting words and actions.
I find myself looking for someone to help me cope with the pains that I deal with when I hurt. Some pain is light and easily dealt with. Some pain is heavier than the ocean sitting upon my chest. Either way, pain is very real and very, well, painful.
Some of you reading this probably don’t look for someone to vent to like I do, and you carry your hurt around not wanting to dump your struggles onto others. You see it as strength to be able to bear the load that others can’t, or won’t. You may even see it as your God-given gift to handle things as a man for your family and friends. Some of that is noble and true, but may I warn you, sir?
Holding it all together isn’t strength as much as it is pride. Thinking you can bear the load of your pain alone is unwise and dangerous because it is unbiblical.
I grew up believing that God’s suffering ended at the cross. That moment ended the pain once and for all for him. But as I go through trials and tribulations that hurt deeply, I have found that my wonderful God is still hurting for me and with me.
Let me explain.
I have fallen into deep times of sadness and hurt for various reasons throughout my life. These seasons of pain have landed me in dark pits where the light does not shine, and the cold whispers of depression and hopelessness chill my hope and freeze my faith. I know what it’s like to feel alone and isolated. I would venture to say, you know that feeling too. But in the chasms meant to separate me from my Father, my Prince of Peace, my Savior, Jesus not only showed up, but he sat in the pool of my tears. He didn’t protect the pristine white of his kingly robe from the dirt I sat in. He knelt down in my muck and felt my pain.
I think that image of Jesus is one we rarely think of when we talk about the King of Glory. We picture him at the right Hand of God, sitting on his throne, elevated above us. We picture him with glowing beams of light surrounding him, not sitting in a dark place where he doesn’t belong; our painful mess.
But the truth is found in scripture. He hurts with us. He relates to our pain. He still suffers agony when we do.
Isaiah 63:9 says, “In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”
Hebrews 2:16-18 speaks of how Jesus helps us through our times of suffering and temptation, and how he was made to be like us in every respect through the flesh. It says, “…he himself suffered when tempted…”
Ephesians 4:30 reveals that we can hurt God by our actions and the way we treat each other by saying, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”
So, what’s my point?
That “…we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
I find it incredibly comforting to know that my God is not obligated to hurt with me, but CHOOSES to walk in the pain I feel and the hurt that I go through. He is empathetic and close to me in my struggles. The word directly addresses this too. Our God is not a vulnerable God. He has no weakness, no flaw, and no area to be exploited. He is truly impenetrable, but yet, He chooses to open His heart to us, allowing us to move Him.
Wait, did you get that?
God allows us to move Him.
Need more scripture? No problem!
In Matthew 9:36 Jesus is “moved with compassion”
"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." (Matt 9:36)
What kind of love is this, that He would open Himself up to humanity with full knowledge of the pain it will cause Him? What kind of love is this, that the King of Kings, the Ancient of Days, the Bright and Morning Star, would stoop low into our mess and choose pain just to be with us?
All throughout scripture this theme of God hurting with us is made clear. He isn’t just above us, He’s in the midst of us.
Psalm 34:18 "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit"
But even with this plethora of evidence that our God has emotions, empathizes with us, hurts with us, and deeply cares about us, there is still a passage in scripture that, in my personal opinion, reveals His deep affection for us greater than any other (excluding the cross). It is found in Hosea.
Hosea 11 shows God’s immensely poetic description of how He feels. Here, He is in agony for the judgement He must inflict upon Israel. His heart is greatly moved by the fact that they have strayed so far, wickedly giving themselves up to the evil, vile, disgusting practices of the pagans.
In God’s justice He must punish His people, but in His love, He will not ignore the pain it causes Him to do so. He likens Israel to that of His own son.
Hosea 11:1-4 says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.”
What a beautiful description of God as our loving Father. Can you see the picture He paints?
Hosea 11:8 continues with God’s deep grief over having to give his son, Israel (Ephraim is interchangeable here), over to Babylonian invaders:
“How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah (Destroyed City)? How can I treat you like Zeboiim (Destroyed City)? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.”
If this does not move you and reveal the wonderous love God has for you, O man of God, what will? The sacrifice of his life on that cross, the agony he is capable of feeling for you, and the promise of a new home made just for you is more than enough.
In closing, Hosea 11:10-11 shows the redemption and saving grace that God promised to His people after their season in exile; hope in the darkness.
“They shall go after the Lord; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.”
Have you ever felt like a trembling bird just trying to fly back home to safety? As I pray, I know that God hears me, sees my pain, feels my pain, and wants to see me come back to the safety of His arms. I am like that trembling bird sometimes.
Whether my pain is my fault, (sin/disobedience) or no fault of my own, (loss/abuse/unfair situations) I know I have a Savior that will lead me with kindness and love, ease my yoke, bend down to feed me, have compassion towards me, and will return me to the home of His presence.
Challenge: Whatever plagues you with pain, lay it at the feet of Jesus. Come trembling back to Him. Let the hurt of past trauma or current agony pour into His capable hands. Present Him with the opportunity to lift your burdens and relieve the weight you carry. Find 30min, preferably today, to spend alone in His presence. Lay it all down with fear and trembling.
He loves you, man of God. He always has and he always will. So much so, that he chooses to feel your pain long after the cross where he bore your sins.
Whether you’re a prodigal son who needs to come home, confused about your sufferings like Job, running from your calling like Jonah, or just broken from your mistakes, God doesn’t hate you. He hasn’t forgotten you. In fact, He chooses to suffer with you. He calls to you today,
“Tremble Back to me, son.”