No beating around the bush and no soft- pedaling. Let me give it to you straight.
The sin that makes God cry is being
committed daily - not by pagan workers
of iniquity, but by multitudes of
Christians! It is the sin of doubting God's
love for His children. Do you think it makes God sound too
human and too vulnerable to say that He
cries? Then ask yourself, how could a
God of love not cry when His own people
doubt His very nature? How could He not
be grieved when His own children act as though He has forsaken them and left
them to their own devices? Jesus Christ
was God in the flesh, and according to
the book of John He wept when those
closest to Him doubted His love and
concern. That was God incarnate at the tomb of Lazarus, crying over friends
who would not take Him at His word. Crying because their unbelief caused them
unnecessary grief and sorrow. Crying
because they failed to recognize who He
was and rest in His promises. Time and time again Christ's dearest
associates on this earth doubted His love
for them. Think back to the story of the
disciples in a storm tossed boat that was
apparently taking on water. Jesus was in
the stern of the boat, sound asleep. Fearing for their lives, His followers
shook Him awake and then accused Him
of outright unconcern. "Master, carest thou
not that we perish?" (Mark 4:38). How
their accusation must have grieved the
Lord! That was almighty God in their boat! How could God not care? But
whenever men take their eyes off the Lord
and concentrate instead on their
circumstances, doubt always takes over.
Jesus was astounded! "How can you be
afraid when I am with you? How can you question My love and care? Have you no
confidence in Me at all" (verse 40)? Christians today grieve the Lord in this
matter even more. Our unbelief is a greater
affront to Him than the unbelief of
Mary, Martha, and all the disciples, for
our sin is committed against greater light.
We stand on a higher mountain and see more than they could ever see. We have a
completed Bible with a full and detailed
record of God's trustworthiness. We have
the written testimonies of almost twenty
centuries of Christians, generation after
generation of godly fathers who have passed down to us unshakeable proofs of
God's love. And that is not all. We have countless
personal experiences that testify to God's
tender love and affection for us. Is there
a single Christian who dares to say he
has not personally witnessed the Lord's
loving intervention in the details of his life many times over? Yet we continue to
doubt His love. When difficulties arise
and the Lord seems to delay in aiding us
as we think He should, we pout. We
think nothing of going about the business
of our everyday lives filled with doubts about His loving kindness. We doubt He
is hearing our cry. We doubt He will do
what is right. We doubt Him at every turn
- and never once see the exceeding
sinfulness of our unbelief. We refuse to
admit that our accusing heart could be making God cry.