DIVINE SORROW

II Peter 1:4...given unto us exceeding great and precious promises:  that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature...

We were going through a family crisis and my husband and I were heartbroken.  Daily we gave the day to the LORD, seeking His guidance and wisdom.  Even though we saw little miracles that encouraged us to keep praying, we had moments of sorrow that overwhelmed us.  

It was one of these moments that caught me by surprise on a Sunday morning.  Worship was good.  Prayer time was good.  I was sitting quietly, listening to the morning announcements when it hit me.  I was suddenly overwhelmed with sorrow.  I started to tear up, then cry, feeling as if I couldn’t breathe .  I knew I was either going to leave and surrender to the sorrow privately, or get a grip.  I chose the latter.  

I prayed, Please LORD, give me Godly sorrow for this situation that comes with great hope and faith in Your power to move on hearts and bring Your reconciliation.  Still it was a struggle.  The alternative was not acceptable to me.  Embracing worldly sorrow was a hopeless lament.  I had to resist it.  God was good and I trembled under the truth of His word.  

Sometimes our emotions come to us so unexpectedly that we default to believing it is just our hormones, or circumstances, or some unknown reason that weighs on our heart.  Mostly we just bear up under it and want it to pass as quickly as it came. 

Here’s what I am learning.  When these times come, and they will come, I must believe His word.  I pray, I now go boldly to You, Father, trusting in Your goodness. You have given me Your Divine Nature.  You live in me and Your Holy Spirit speaks to me.  I am feeling ______.  What are You saying to me?  I don’t want to give way to my humanness and miss hearing Your voice.  What am I to do?  Then I wait.  I listen for His Voice.  He speaks because He wants me to know Him.

That Sunday taught me something about being in fellowship with Him.  His Voice is the first one I should listen to, not the one I default to when I’ve exhausted all other sources.  So when I asked, He told me my sorrow was the comforting of the Holy Spirit.  He was acquainted with grief and He carried my sorrows.  He was holding me, loving me, giving me hope.  His comfort brought us both to tears.  I was so touched by His love, His communion with me and in me. 

The LORD exhorts us, Stop your hopeless lament and remember—Jesus wept. But He was never hopeless.  

I FOUND HIM SIMPLY DIVINE

--Alice Turney

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