When we view the death of Jesus as God doing something TO Jesus to punish Him wrathfully in our place rather than Jesus choosing to do something FOR us out of His sacrificial love for us, we risk having the view that God is our unloving, distant punisher waiting for us to mess up, while Jesus is the victim of each of our wrongdoings. This mindset often leads us to live as if we need to work to prove our worth to God and clean up our lives to please Him.

Rather, Jesus willingly entered into a dark system of religious power, oppression, and sin, turning it upside down and speaking forgiveness rather than condemnation. Jesus CHOSE non-violence when confronted with human violence. Human evil was not able to destroy Him, and violence did not have the final word as Jesus rose from the dead.

Since God has been in the darkness, we can have faith that He understands the pain and sin we struggle with and can redeem it. We aren’t walking in our mess alone. God is with us in it. Suffering without God is suffering without hope. When God shows up, He doesn’t make our lives clean and orderly...or even bring reason and logic to tragedy. Bringing God into our suffering gives us hope for redemption and comfort with His presence. God refuses to abandon us in our pain.

If Jesus willingly entered the darkness of others, aren’t we called to do the same? He didn’t run from it. He didn’t fight it. He transformed it, bringing hope and love into the darkness.

The way we view God will affect how we sit with others in their brokenness and darkness. If we don’t see God’s presence in our own pain and suffering, our ability to help others see God in their pain and suffering will be limited.

If we don’t have confidence that God can accept us as we are in our mess, how are we supposed to be there for others in their mess?

If we think we need to clean up our act to earn God’s love, won’t we expect the same of others, trying to fix them rather than sit with them in their pain?

We can show God’s love by refusing to abandon others in their pain despite our own discomfort with it. Shifting a person’s image of God is more about demonstrating God’s commitment and love than arguing theology. We can do this by connecting to their pain while not allowing that pain, shame, and sin to remove our loving presence.

Meet the Author

Megan grew up in rural Wisconsin, where she was always known as the quiet girl with a book in her hands. Now Megan is working on her lifelong dream of becoming the author of her very own book. Out of her own struggle with trauma and mental health, she created the Jordan Crossings Blog to empower those who are healing from trauma and educate Christians on how to minister to those who are hurting.