“God Who Sees, Weeps, and Walks With Us”
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me… You understand my thoughts from afar… If I make my bed and lay down, You are there.”
God of presence, of tears, of strength and silence, walk with us now as we walk through the tender ground of our own lives.
Hear this truth today:
God knows.
Before the hospital room grows quiet, before the last breath is drawn or the machines go still, HE is there.
Before the job is lost, before the termination letter is signed, before the betrayal, God sees.
Before the floodwaters rise, literal or metaphorical, HE is already in the ark and in the storm.
Before the heart breaks, quietly in the middle of the night while no one notices, God notices.
God knows.
God sees.
And God cares.
We do not worship a distant God. We do not serve a Savior who watches from the safety of heaven.
We follow Jesus Christ, the One who kneels in dust, who weeps over cities, who groans at tombs, and walks into the pits to lift us out.
Jesus wept, do not ever forget this.
The shortest verse in Scripture, and perhaps the most theologically dense.
(John 11:35) “Jesus wept.”
HE wept at the tomb of Lazarus, even knowing resurrection was coming.
Why? Because God does not bypass pain just because HE knows the ending.
HE weeps for love.
HE weeps for your heartbreak.
HE weeps over the chaos in your family.
HE weeps for the silent disappointments no one else knows.
And yet, HE is not only the God who weeps.
HE is the God who walks with you through the valley of the shadow.
HE is the God who wipes tears away, not to shame them, but to hold them.
HE is the God who gives you permission to rise even when others want you to remain in ashes.
Let’s speak honestly now.
Some of you have been carrying burdens that were never yours to carry.
You have been performing for people whose unmet need for admiration has become a leash around your soul.
But hear me clearly:
Their need for applause is not your burden to bear.
You are allowed to grow, even if they choose to wither.
You are allowed to walk in peace, even if they manufacture chaos.
You are allowed to leave the stage, even if they beg to keep the spotlight.
This is not abandonment.
This is wisdom.
This is obedience.
Jesus HIMSELF walked away from crowds. HE refused to play the games of power. HE disappointed expectations, and still fulfilled HIS FATHER’s will.
So today, be released.
Be free.
Let go of the guilt that isn’t from God.
Let go of the voices that only speak when you shrink to fit them.
You are not being selfish when you choose life.
The cross teaches us that love bears pain, but it also teaches us that love leads to resurrection.
You are not called to stay in the grave for someone else’s ego.
You are not asked by Jesus to die so someone else can feel big.
HE died and rose again so you could live in truth and walk in light.
So come to the altar today,
Not for performance. Not for approval. But for presence.
The presence of the God who knows.
The Savior who cries.
The Spirit who heals.
And remember,
“The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words… And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.”
Even the silence.
Even the walking away.
Even the breaking.
Even the growing.
God knows. And HE is not ashamed of your healing.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, YOU wept and YOU rose. You broke and YOU healed. You knelt in the dirt to lift us up. May we walk in YOUR footsteps, not carrying guilt that isn’t ours, but courage that is. Teach us to grow, even when others choose not to. And remind us, always, that YOU are near.
Amen