The Hot Pursuit of God’s Goodness and Mercy
When life gets hard, it is rarely the circumstances themselves that derail us. Rather, it is our hidden misconceptions of God. False impressions of him create sneaky undercurrents of mistrust in our hearts, hampering our intimacy with him and our ability to face the circumstance with peaceful hearts. These misconceptions may be buried so deep that we need help to identify and correct them.
“From my vantage point, it seems like God is watching the prolonged pain and doing nothing about it. ”
For me, one such misconception is that God is passive in the face of suffering. I see the anguish of this broken world in the news, in the lives of my loved ones, and in my own heart. From my vantage point, it seems like God is watching the prolonged pain and doing nothing about it. It seems like he is unengaged. But if we look into his Word there is much we can learn about the truth of his character.
Recognizing the Ramifications
We were made for intimacy with God. Every time we are confronted with darkness, whether from within or without, we have the opportunity to run to the Lord. Pain and suffering—even sin—are invitations to draw near to him. He is the only source of forgiveness, healing, and true human flourishing. When we bring our broken hearts to him, we don’t come to an indifferent God. We come to Jesus, whose body was broken for us and for the world. That’s why the insidious lie that he is passive is so debilitating. It whispers in our ear that God might not notice or maybe he just doesn’t care. It corrupts our view of him, which impacts our stance toward him. We stay distant, often angry or fearful, deprived of the comfort and peace he died to bring.
What's more, believing the lie of his passivity stunts our ability to see and participate in his work. It tells us we cannot count on God to act. Either we have no hope or we are the hope. In the first case, we end up paralyzed and disoriented, unable to recognize what God is actively doing. In the latter, we end up trying in our own strength to accomplish what we think God should be doing but isn’t. That never ends well. The truth is, God is the source of all hope. And Jesus didn’t die just to give us hope for the future. He conquered sin and death to usher in his kingdom even now. Believing the lie hampers our cooperation and relationship with God.
While most of us would never say aloud that God is passive, we can examine our response to painful situations as a litmus test. If our response is either immobilizing despair or a flurry of brainstorming followed by a manic sort of self-driven exertion, then we are likely believing God has chosen to overlook this situation. Both responses show that something is off in our view of God. When our hearts are rooted in the truth of his character, painful circumstances become a catalyst for growing in intimacy with him. From that place of intimacy, we can join God in the work he is doing.
Realizing What the Word Reveals
God put his character on display in his Word. Here we find his heart full of justice, love, and mercy. His actions flow from his heart. Page after page shows him engaged in the lives of broken people and in this broken world. From cover to cover we see him pursuing his people, revealing himself, building his kingdom, even spilling his own blood. Throughout Scripture, he is constantly working his mighty hand to bring freedom, healing, and justice. And he’s still at it today.
When the truth of his nature confronts our misconception, we are changed. Our hearts can rest knowing he is at work. This transforms our response to brokenness and thaws our frozen hearts, calming our frenetic activity and allowing us to partner with him from a place of intimacy.
One particular chapter that confronts the lie of an inactive God is Psalm 23. David’s psalm is at risk of becoming a casualty of familiarity, but it holds powerful truth in the face of this lie. He begins by declaring that God is his shepherd. Then he spends the rest of the psalm describing what the Shepherd is actively doing. Just look at all the verbs!
In Psalm 23, we see God actively provide rest in the green pasture,
lead to calm waters of rest,
restore the soul,
lead in the right path,
remain near in the face of death and darkness,
offer comfort,
offer sustenance, and
anoint with oil.
Notice that all this activity by God is in the face of fearful circumstances. God is at work in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death.
“God is at work in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death. ”
Sometimes we slip into thinking God is passive because we carry wrong expectations about what his work looks like. Our preconceived notions of what God’s work should entail blind us to what he is actually doing. We are so busy trying to get out of the valley that we don’t even notice the table he has spread for us in the midst of it.
Reflecting on Radaph
As if this were not enough, notice how the final verse reads:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever. (Ps. 23:6)
As a child, I had always pictured goodness and mercy meandering behind me in the same way my little brother used to follow me around—a sort of carefree but aimless trailing behind. That’s not what David means here. The word he chose for follow is the Hebrew word רָדַף pronounced “radaph.”
The authors of the Bible often use the word radaph in the Old Testament to describe one person or group pursuing another to conquer them. For example, when God miraculously leads Israel out of Egypt, Pharaoh follows them into the wilderness. There is nothing carefree or aimless about the hot pursuit of thundering chariots carrying heavily-armed warriors. The same word is used when Abram rushes to rescue Lot and his family. A group of neighboring kings had taken Lot, his family, and all he owned into captivity. Abram mounted a swift and strategic rescue plan following after them with over three hundred trained men. Even in the psalms, David uses this word frequently, but always in response to his enemies pursuing him. Sometimes it is even translated as “persecuting.”
So in Psalm 23, there is nothing passive about the goodness and mercy of God following David in his time of trial. God’s mercy is chasing him down. God’s faithful love is hunting him. Turns out, that’s the same thing God does when it’s our turn to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. It’s the same thing he does when his sheep wander away. It’s the same thing he does when the world appears to be falling apart.
“God’s mercy is chasing him down. God’s faithful love is hunting him. ”
In fact, it is what he is doing right now. Jesus is the tangible expression of God’s goodness and mercy. His response to human suffering was to become human and suffer. But he didn’t stop there. He conquered sin and death and is now very much alive at the right hand of God. He has unleashed his Spirit in the world to continue following his children until the day he calls us home to dwell in his house forever. Every time we face suffering of any kind we can remember, even if we can’t see it in the moment, that God’s goodness and mercy are in hot pursuit.
That situation that is weighing so heavily on your mind? God’s goodness and mercy shall radaph.
That person you have such a burden for? God’s goodness and mercy shall radaph.
You and me in our weakness and pain? God’s goodness and mercy shall radaph.
Perhaps, like me, you survey the darkness around or within you and are tempted to believe that God is watching from the sidelines. If so, I’ve prayed for you. I’ve asked the Holy Spirit to help you believe that he is present and engaged in the middle of the mess. May the truth of his active nature set you free from fear and despair. Likewise, may it set you free from the exhausting weight of trying to do his work for him. May you be drawn into deeper intimacy with him and thus be empowered to partner with him in his redemptive work.
Stacie van de Weghe wears many hats––wife, mom of boys, youth leader, teacher, homemaker––but her identity is a beloved daughter of the king. She loves to read, run, hike, write, and drink good coffee. But not all at the same time. She writes occasionally on her blog basicallyamazing.net.