{"id":2202,"date":"2019-12-17T02:56:54","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T02:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=2202"},"modified":"2019-12-17T02:56:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T02:56:59","slug":"gods-love-in-a-broken-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=2202","title":{"rendered":"God’s Love in a Broken World"},"content":{"rendered":"

He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; (Isaiah 53:3a NASB)<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a cold rainy day and we don\u2019t have to go anywhere until later. I\u2019m soaking in the comfort of being with my bride and our dog before a warm fire. Sipping my coffee, I\u2019m reveling in the reality of God\u2019s presence. I don\u2019t always feel His nearness, but I know He indwells me and is always closer than breath. I\u2019m learning to find my completeness in His love no matter how unloving the world around me might be. For me, the path to experiencing His love more fully has been through sadness.<\/p>\n

Until recently, I believed sadness was to be avoided at all costs. How could it be good? How can I function during it?<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve noticed when I avoid dealing with my sorrow, I\u2019m not being true to myself. I feel detached. I’m learning pain is there for a reason and I can’t afford to deny it. My heart must be tended to.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s helped me more that anything is knowing Jesus was known as a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. My Savior understands. When I bring my pain to Him, His comfort is real.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cIn the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.\u201d (John 16:33b NASB)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

We live in a broken world. What goes on now is not what will be. But Jesus invites me to draw near to Him in my sadness. When I do, the joy of His nearness overshadows my pain.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.<\/em> (II Corinthians 1:3-4 NASB<\/strong>)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>When I tend to my heart and call Jesus near in my pain, the Man of Sorrows meets me. His nearness is the oil of gladness which soothes the crevices of my crusty heart. It\u2019s strange how dealing with grief, and not avoiding it, can be the path to experiencing a deeper measure of God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n

Hannah Hurnard, in her book Hind\u2019s Feet on High Places,<\/u> writes of Much-Afraid\u2019s travels with Sorrow and Suffering. They were unwelcome, but very necessary companions on her journey to the top of the mountain. When she arrived, her Shepherd, the King gave her new names of Grace and Glory. Her companions Sorrow and Suffering were renamed Joy and Peace.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m understanding the value of not running from Sorrow and Suffering in my own journey. Though these companions aren\u2019t comfortable, they usher me to the Comforter who give me a Joy and Peace which can not be shaken by any circumstance.<\/p>\n

There are so many broken hearts in this broken world. Creation groans for the redemption of the bodies of God\u2019s adopted sons and daughters at Christ\u2019s return.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

In the midst of Sorrow and Suffering, Christ offers a deeper measure of His Love in the Joy and Peace of his nearness. He is our Comforter, waiting to be called near.<\/p>\n

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime;<\/em> Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5 NASB)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Lord, I\u2019m sorry for running from sadness. What a relief to know that sorrow and suffering are a part of your path to Joy and Peace. I\u2019ve spent so much effort trying to carve out a happy heart when all along it was okay to be sad. Please teach me to tend to my heart in times of sorrow and not seek only a carefree life. I\u2019m amazed how much more I understand your love for me because of my journey with Sorrow and Suffering. Thank you. <\/em><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Romans 8:22-24<\/p>\n

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God\u2019s nearness in the midst of life\u2019s adventures. Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post once a week. Thank you for reading.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Novels by the Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyond Time<\/a><\/p>\n

Hope Remains<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can suffering and sorrow usher us into a deeper understanding of God’s peace, joy and love? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1666,1665],"tags":[1670,1668,1667,580,35,1007,39,58,1669,549,1662,1664,1672,1583,510,944,7,1671,1663,37,655,233,302,1661,694,13,1319],"class_list":["post-2202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gods-comfort","category-gods-love","tag-acquainted-with-grief","tag-adopted-daughter","tag-adopted-son","tag-broken","tag-broken-heart","tag-comforter","tag-gods-nearness","tag-gods-presence","tag-grace-and-glory","tag-grief","tag-hannah-hurnard","tag-hinds-feet-on-high-places","tag-ii-corinthians-13-4","tag-isaiah-533","tag-jesus-christ","tag-john-1633","tag-joy","tag-man-of-sorrows","tag-much-afraid","tag-oil-of-gladness","tag-pain","tag-peace","tag-psalm-305","tag-romans-822-24","tag-sadness","tag-sorrow","tag-suffering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2202"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2209,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202\/revisions\/2209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}