Jeremiah 31:20

This is the verse, and specifically this translation, that we need to hear.

“Oh! … my dear, dear son, my child in whom I take pleasure! Every time I mention his name, my heart bursts with longing for him! Everything in me cries out for him. Softly and tenderly I wait for him.” (Jeremiah 31:20, The Message)

But we are a resistant people, especially those of us who have been abused. When parents betray, when our larger culture betrays, we lose the solid ground beneath our feet. We’re not sure how to, or even if we want to, hear God crying out for us! We’re angry!

There’s more to this, though, and we can sense it, can’t we? Where parents, where culture fails, God provides. We do know this. It’s that inner voice within. It’s the image and likeness of God within that whispers this. We know God is a God of compassion. But our resistance remains, and it remains because we misunderstand what God’s provision entails.

I don’t want God to give me the developmental gifts I missed due to trauma. I don’t want God to give me security and peace. No! Not if that means things stay the same!

This view does not recognize that God is also a God of justice. While God bends heaven (cf. Psalm 18) to restore each of us, God also takes issue with the massive deficits in parents and in society that bring about our suffering. Our tears are not forgotten.

Reflection

In what ways is God crying out for you? What is the cause of your resistance?

Prayer

Dear God, You hold out to me all that I need to be whole. You also hold out to me — and to all of us — the grace to change, to grow, to become the people we are supposed to be. Show me how to hear You, Lord. Show me how to participate with You so that I may receive and take up my part in pushing us all toward compassion and justice. Amen.