What I Believe Grieves God The Most

I never used to consider myself as a “crier”. Whether it was an emotional movie scene or a joyous occasion, I didn’t often express my emotions through tears. However, as I’ve gotten older, I would say I cry often, but not for the reasons you’d think. I wish I could say I’ve cried more tears of joy than sorrow, but that would be untruthful. You see, the more I’ve grown in my relationship with Christ, the more I understand the reality of this fallen world. I’m reminded of how Ecclesiastes 1:18 says,

“For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.”

The more I draw closer to God, the more knowledge and wisdom I receive. Don’t get me wrong, gaining knowledge and wisdom from the Lord is a beautiful thing. It’s a sign of growth and spiritual maturity. Still, more spiritual understanding comes with more spiritual burden. You begin to see the war for souls in a different light. You see beyond people and recognize what’s truly at work in the spiritual realm. While discernment is valuable and a true gift from the Holy Spirit, I’ve found that it grieves me to see the things that people are wrestling with. Not only that, but it’s difficult to see so many people proclaim the name of Christ, yet they’ve completely missed Him. Satan is so crafty because he’s deceived many into believing they are following Christ, but in reality, they are following a false version of Jesus that they’ve constructed in their own minds. To me, that’s the most dangerous place to be in. Thinking you are on track to living with God in eternity, but you are the farthest thing from it. The façade of the human heart and sin has deceived the world.

Ever since the beginning of human history, sin has been the true disease of mankind. It creeps its way into our hearts and causes silent, but violent destruction. Sin is subtle at first, but if left unchecked and unsurrendered, we see how volatile it truly is. All it took was a subtle question from the enemy to make Eve doubt God and disobey His command. Thus, the curse of sin entered mankind. It was jealousy left unchecked that caused Cain to kill his own brother. What’s worse is that we often try to justify our sin instead of confronting it head-on and dealing with it aggressively. I think of how Sarah encouraged Abraham to lie with Hagar because she lacked faith that God would bless her with an heir. So, instead of waiting on the Lord’s promise of a son to be fulfilled, she decided to take matters into her own hands to produce an heir. And when Hagar became pregnant and showed contempt for Sarah, she blamed Abraham for the fallout instead of taking responsibility for her own devious actions. Then instead of repentance, Sarah doubles down and treats Hagar harshly, causing Hagar to flee into the wilderness with her son. Unfortunately, history repeats itself and the state of our world illustrates just how diseased our world really is.

Being a disciple of Christ means having a completely different outlook on the world. Despite what culture tries to tell you, everything is spiritual. Every action in the physical has spiritual implications. For me, as I’ve grown in my faith walk, seeing sin and how it manifests in our world makes me sick to my stomach. It causes me to shed tears because there are so many people, believers and non-believers alike, that don’t understand the gravity of their actions and how far from God they truly are. For non-believers, it’s evident they are living in sin because they simply don’t know the truth. They are lost and, while that is reason enough for sorrow, there’s something else that grieves me even more. I often see believers who believe in Christ, but they are not yet disciples because they haven’t surrendered their lives to Him. The biggest lie the enemy has tried to perpetuate in modern culture is that being saved simply means believing in Christ and accepting that He died for your sins. The problem with this notion is that it only tells half the story.

Christ died to overcome the weight and power of sin. This means that, because we couldn’t pay the price, He did it in our place. Jesus Christ died so that we, as disciples, could have power over sin and dominion over the enemy. Inherently, this means the true follower of Christ is fighting every day to overcome sin through the power of the Holy Spirit and the redemptive power of the cross. But unfortunately, many believers never engage in that daily fight and that path has eternal consequences. People are proclaiming themselves to be saved, but they are still living in adultery, fornication, deception, pride, and lukewarmness. What’s worse is that we find ways to make excuses to hold onto our sin instead of surrendering it to Jesus and living a true life of repentance. Somehow, we have managed to believe our faith has no cost. Yet, following Christ is the costliest thing you could ever do. I find myself wrestling everyday to be more like Jesus. My flesh has become the thing I despise the most because the sinful nature of this human body is always working against the Holy Spirit that lives inside of me. The fight is hard – bloody even. Still, that’s what Christ calls us to do – wrestle against the flesh. Wrestling against our flesh is a painful, but necessary process. I love how Paul puts it in Philippians 2:12-15,

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”

This act of working out our salvation is a daily process. We don’t serve a God who coddles our sin and justifies our wrongdoings. We serve a God who requires us to do of His good pleasure in a world that rejects living to please Him. This is why it grieves me to see so many believers miss Jesus amidst their churchgoing, Bible studies, and faith conferences. Amidst all their striving, they believe that following Christ is only about external actions without the internal surrender. This is how we get believers with no power and people who play church instead of being the church. This isn’t simply my assessment looking from the outside in, but it’s also me speaking from my own experience with Christ. For years, I thought my faith walk was defined by the things that I did for God. Yet, I still carelessly lived with pride, unforgiveness, lust, and didn’t think twice about surrendering those things to God. I thought my performance would be enough to please Him. Although I was playing the role of a Christian at an Oscar award-winning level, I was so far from being a true disciple of Christ. But thank God for conviction and revelation through the Holy Spirit. I now understand that living my life for Christ requires suffering with Him. It requires a daily crucifixion of my flesh and taking up my own cross. It’s scary to think there was a time when my faith cost me absolutely nothing. I knew the truth of the Gospel, yet I was still on the path to hell. It’s a chilling reality to know so many others are in the same boat I was years ago.

Watching politicians justify murder in the name of the Lord, believers rejoice in the death of humans that God loves, and proclaimers of Christ look no different than those living in the world is what I believe grieves our God the most. I can’t imagine how much sorrow it brings our Father to see people living in a false reality of what it truly means to live a life for Christ. And although there are days where I simply want to wallow in that sorrow, I remember that I have a responsibility as a disciple of Christ. There are two scriptures that the Holy Spirit brings to my mind:

James 5:16

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

These scriptures remind me of my responsibility as a disciple to pray without ceasing. We need more intercessors who will actively and consistently pray on behalf of a world that is lost. We need humility to place the needs of others above our own and pray for those who are on the way to an eternity away from God. Christ didn’t just die to give us dominion over sin in our own lives, but he gave us the power to fight the forces of darkness at work in our world. Feeling sorrow for the lost is one thing, but putting actions behind our faith and fighting in the Spirit is another.

If you’re anything like me and you find yourself grieving for the world around you, I invite you to pray. I encourage you to go the extra step to petition the Lord for a revival amongst His people and an outpouring of His spirit over those who are lost. Along with prayer and petition, I also encourage you to live your life in a way that places Christ on full display. People should see Christ when they see you. The lies of the enemy have led people to believe that living for Jesus allows you to have one foot in the world and one foot in the church. But I challenge you to not only expose that lie but show others what it means to die to your flesh daily. Because our God is faithful and He is never one to turn away from the cries of His people, I am confident He will respond to fervent prayer and disciples putting actions behind our faith. Don’t let another day pass where grief overcomes your ability to fight against darkness. You have power through the Holy Spirit, and that’s exactly what our world needs. More Holy Spirit filled believers who will engage in the daily fight and contend for the faith.

P.S. – If you’re anything like me and love to associate songs with certain moments, here’s one that fits perfectly. “Heal Our Land/Come & Move” – Maverick City Music, Joe L. Barnes, Maryanne J. George, Mav City Gospel Choir