God is wonderful and strange and true. I think the book of Ezekiel shows this as well as any book in the Bible. It also shows God’s anger and passion. And there’s something else.
“…you…will remember Me…how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me…(Ezekiel 6:9).”
God gets hurt. I easily see God’s anger, and I know Jesus wept. I know God is close to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). But I don’t really think in terms of God being hurt.
When I tell someone they’ve hurt me, it’s a really vulnerable moment. They have a lot of power over me. They can hurt me more, minimize my pain, confuse me, make me feel like I’m overreacting.
I know God’s God, so He knows the truth when He’s hurt. He knows He’s not overreacting, but still. I can know something, but the emotions might not line up with what I know. It can still hurt a lot.
Is is like that for God? If I hurt Him by turning away or telling Him He’s not enough, then He tells me or rebukes me, can my reaction hurt Him even more? Will He keep remembering that pain down the road? Even after we reconcile? I know He says He’ll remember my sin no more (Hebrews 8:12), but does He remember the pain?
Because I know I do. When someone hurts me, I may forgive, we may reconcile, the transgression gets wiped clean, but the pain still creeps up. The trust bonds are a little weaker than they were before. The scars have left me a little toughened. And that disappoints me.
Is that how it is for the Lord? When He’s been hurt? Or with that reconciliation and forgiveness, does the hurt go away? He makes all things new, right?
I guess it’s been easy for me over the years to see God’s anger in scripture. And I’ve seen His wrath poured out. Then I’ve seen the restoration and renewal and thought that was it. New things, new season, new start.
But if I’m made in His image and I remember the pain of being hurt, then might He? He might.
But that also means He might remember the joy. And since He endured the cross for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2), maybe the joy is a little greater than the hurt.
And maybe that’s the answer to my question: Why would God make Himself so vulnerable as to admit that He’s hurt? Anger I get, but hurt feels so fragile.
So is the joy enough? Is it the secret? With depths of hurt come heights of joy? I wonder.
I think I need to ponder this, admit my hurts, be vulnerable. Might I experience greater joy?
Maybe that’s why God tells us He’s hurt. Maybe that’s why He shares His heart. Maybe that’s why He reveals His passion. Maybe it’s for the joy set before Him and so that He can set the joy before me.
Yes, God is wonderful and strange and true.