This is a follow-up article on A Brief Introduction On the Theology of Groaning
Romans 8:19-22 tells us that God has subjected this world to futility and corruption because of Adam’s sin. Natural calamities, sicknesses, diseases, decay and death are the consequences of the Fall. This world will only be liberated from the bondage of corruption on the day of Christ’s second coming. While we wait for His return, we groan as we witness the consequence of the Fall in this broken world.
How can we groan with reverence, gratitude and hope? How should we respond empathetically to a world broken by sin?
Perhaps we can learn from the examples of Nehemiah and Daniel in the Bible.
1. We Mourn with the World
Both Daniel and Nehemiah were exiles living in Babylonian and Medo-Persia empires respectively. Daniel fasted and mourned because he understood that Israel was in captivity because of her sins (Daniel 9:2-3). Similarly, when Nehemiah heard and witnessed the desolation of Jerusalem, he mourned before God in acknowledgement of the sins of his people (Nehemiah 1:3-4). Both Daniel and Nehemiah responded to the consequence of their forefathers’ sins by standing in solidarity with them and mourning before God in humility, seeking His mercy.
Likewise, we should not be busy judging and assigning blame but instead stand in solidarity with this fallen world as we witness natural calamities, plagues and death around us. These are sobering reminders that the world is under the curse of sin. Let us acknowledge that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Let us mourn over the detrimental effects of sin in this world and come humbly before Him to ask for forgiveness and mercy.
2. We Hope In God's Covenantal Love
“I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments…”
Daniel 9:4
“And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments…”
Nehemiah 1:5
Daniel and Nehemiah did not just mourn over the sins of their forefathers, they also clung on to the steadfast love of God. They remembered His promises toward Israel, that He would restore her once again.
God’s covenantal love is not just for the nation Israel. God has sent His Son to die for this world so that whoever believes in Him will be saved from his or her sins (John 3:16).
Apostle Paul realised this: “He (God) who did not spare his own Son (Jesus Christ) but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32)?” In Christ, we come to know that the steadfast love of God is great and His lovingkindness towards us knows no end. He is not indifferent towards the sufferings of this world. It is His desire to deliver His people from the consequence of sin.
Let us therefore approach the throne of God with our eyes fixed on Christ, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
3. We Yearn For God's Reign
“Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord… O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name…” Daniel 9:17,19
Daniel called upon God to save His people for His own glory sake. His appeal was that when God restores Jerusalem, neighbouring nations will come to know of His great power and mercy and His name will be glorified (see Daniel 9:17-19).
Likewise we can pray like Daniel for this broken world: “Lord, for Your glory sake, heal this land”, or “Lord, deliver us from this pestilence so that many may come to know of Your power, love and mercy.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us in Matthew 6:9-13 to pray this way, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This world is suffering because it has rejected the Creator and His reign. The world is in chaos because of the consequence of sin. Even as we witness the broken state of this world, let us pray that God will restore this world back to what He meant it to be. A world under His reign, where His name is revered and His will be done.
4. We Avail Ourselves for His Service
“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Nehemiah 1:11
"And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon." (Daniel 2:16-18).
Nehemiah did not just mourn or pray for Jerusalem, he availed himself to be God’s instrument to do something about the situation. He decided to approach the king to ask permission to return back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. So he prayed to God that he will find favour in the eyes of the king.
When Daniel heard that the king was about to put to death all the wise men in Babylon, he availed himself to do something about the situation. He offered to interpret the king’s dream. He sought prayers from his likeminded companions that God will reveal the mystery of the king’s dream to him and God did.
In his book “Church why bother”, Philip Yancey wrote:
“What is God like? Where does God live? How can the world get to know God? God’s presence no longer dwells in a tabernacle in the Sinai, or in a temple in Jerusalem. God has chosen instead to dwell in ordinary, even ornery, people like you and me…. As I look around on Sunday morning at the people populating the pews, I see the risk that God has assumed. For whatever reason, God now reveals himself in the world not through a pillar of smoke and fire, not even through the physical body of his Son in Galilee, but through the mongrel collection that comprises the local church… in this confused and confusing world, we are called to share in the representation of what God is like, to give God form in this world.”
As we witness the sufferings in this sin-broken world, we can avail ourselves to be God’s conduit of love to this world. We can give to the poor, minister to the hurting, and employ our gifts and talents to serve the needs around us.
A prayer that is often attributed to Francis of Assisi goes like this:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
May this be our prayer too in this world of pain and suffering.
Related articles: