Divine Heartbreak

I'm reading SexGod with my two good friends this summer. In this book, Rob Bell makes an incredible point - I've thought long and hard about what he said, and I find it utterly refreshing.

Over and over again we see in the Old Testament how Israel turns from God - they wander from Him; they doubt His ways; they complain to him - in short, they break His heart. Our God is so full of love for these people and yet they don't return it! And we see, over and over again, that God is 'grieved.' God is grieved! His heart breaks over the fact that His people do not wholeheartedly return His love.

This speaks to us in monumental ways. Heartbreak is universal. I seriously don't know anyone who has not had some degree of heartbreak. In our heartbreak, we are quick to ask why, quick to wonder why we have to walk through a hard patch of life, but who are we to ask for only the good times and never the bad? Even God walked through times of heartbreak!

I walked through a crazy time of heartbreak. It wasn't until months later, reading this chapter of SexGod, that the idea of divine heartbreak was introduced to me. Heartbreak is actually a divine characteristic! If I walked through all that I did, only to have a characteristic of our God revealed to me in a more real way, then it was worth it! This is huge - not only for me, but for anyone! because everyone has been through heartbreak. Even those who would claim that they have no relationship with Christ whatsoever, even those who are far from God, who think that He would not want to have anything to do with them.... even those people have walked through heartbreak. And perhaps, this mutual heartbreak is just what they need to understand that they are divinely created, divinely loved, and divinely being pursued! People who claim to have no way at all to relate to God actually have a very REAL way to relate. This is beautiful!

Our God is revealing Himself in an incredible way. We are seeing the compassion, love, and mercy of the living, breathing, active God in a very real and personal way!