03.07. CHAPTER 07 - GOD WILL DRAW YOU TO HIMSELF THROUGH GODLY SORROW

CHAPTER 07 - GOD WILL DRAW YOU TO HIMSELF THROUGH GODLY SORROW “Godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

“Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

Godly sorrow is the sorrow produced by the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in human words (Romans 8:26).

It was such a sorrow that made us repent and come to the Lord at first. And throughout our lives it is good for us to be responsive to such workings of the Holy Spirit within our hearts.

We must weep whenever we fall spiritually or when we lose fellowship with our Lord as the bride did when she lost fellowship with her Beloved (Song of Solomon 3:1-4). Such weeping is good for our soul. Tears of repentance are never in vain. When we see our life in His light, we will discover how the cobwebs of our touchiness, covetousness, pride, selfishness and self-pity have defiled our heart and made life difficult for us and for others around us. Our weeping will then lead us to a brokenness and humility that will enable us to receive God’s grace continually.

Peter was so confident that he would stand like a rock and never deny the Lord. He even took out a sword in Gethsemane to defend his Master. But he fell in the time of temptation, just as the Lord had warned him. But the compassionate, forgiving look of his Master broke him to the point where he wept bitterly. He wondered if he would ever get a chance to tell the Lord how sorry he was for his failure and how much he loved Him? This has been the experience of many of God’s children, who have failed the Lord at some time. If that has been your experience, dear sister, then let me assure you that there is hope for you.

Remember, Satan had to get permission from God before he could sift Peter. And Satan has to get permission from God to sift you too.

Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. And Jesus prays for you today. The Lord had faith that Peter would come through the time of testing and be restored. He has faith in you too. After Peter was restored, he went on to strengthen his fellow-believers and did a great work for the Lord. Thus will it be with you too.

If Peter had heeded the Lord’s warning in Gethsemane and prayed as he was told to, he would never have fallen - but Peter was self-confident. And so he failed. But the Lord appeared to him after His resurrection and encouraged him. And Peter got an opportunity to tell the Lord that He loved Him. And then the Lord re-commissioned him as an apostle.

God is a good God and He allows adversity and trial in our lives in order to reveal our true nature to us. Thus He humbles us and breaks us, so that He can transform us into His likeness. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. In times of personal sorrow, we should not be so wrapped up with our own problems that we have no concern for others. Our Lord, as a “Man of sorrows” was yet “acquainted with our griefs”. He wept as He looked at the people in the city of Jerusalem who had rejected Him.

“He had no tears for His own griefs, But sweat drops of blood for mine”. Our Lord wept for others. Now it is our turn, as Jesus’ representatives, to weep for others.

Think of the story of Joseph who had been imprisoned unjustly. But there in prison, he forgot about his own sorrows and was concerned about the problems of the other prisoners. His concern for Pharaoh’s cupbearer was what finally led to his deliverance from prison. A genuine concern for others can be the first step for your deliverance too (Genesis 40:7).

“He who goes forth weeping, bearing precious seed will come home rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalms 126:6).

Here are some examples of men who wept with a godly sorrow:

Isaiah wept when he saw the glory of God and the corruption of his own nature and said, “Woe is me for I am an unclean man” (Isaiah 6:5).

Jeremiah wept for the backslidden people of God and wished that his eyes were a fountain of tears, so that He could weep for them continually (Jeremiah 9:1; Jeremiah 13:17).

Daniel wept for the sins of God’s people (Daniel 9:20-21).

Ezra and Nehemiah wept when they saw the fallen condition of God’s people (Ezra 10:1; Nehemiah 1:4).

Paul had great sorrow in his heart continually for his own people (the Jews) who were unconverted (Romans 9:1-3).

Godly sorrow will make us grieve for the things that grieve the Lord.

Think for a moment of the idolatry in our land and how the Lord must be grieved about it. We may have got so used to seeing temples and idols in our land that it does not bother us at all (Acts 17:16). But we have a responsibility before the Lord for the land in which we live.

God has said, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

I can remember occasions in the past when the Lord laid a burden on my heart to pray for others. A mother once asked me to pray for her son who suffered from sleeplessness. He was addicted to rock music and had no interest in God. Psychiatric help was useless. His head throbbed like the drumbeat of the music he listened to. God in His mercy answered our prayer and he is fine now. Many mothers are unaware of the dangers that their children face through rock music. In one of my travels, I saw a group of men and women having some 2-year old and 3-year old girls with them. I noticed something queer about their behaviour with the children. The little girls looked numbed and fearful and were possibly drugged. They were probably being kidnapped. Since there was no way in which I could prove this, I could do nothing about it. Seeing those poor children made a deep impression on me and drove me to pray for child-abuse in our country. On another occasion I met a girl from a Western country who had come to India to find peace through gurus, meditation and eastern religions. I got an opportunity to tell her of the real Guru, the Lord Jesus, and found myself burdened to pray for her. Some Westerners have found the Lord in India. Ask the Lord to use you to witness to such needy, searching people or to pray for them. When Jesus was carrying the cross through Jerusalem and saw some women weeping for Him, He told them not to weep for him but for themselves and their children: “Daughters of Jerusalem”, He said, “weep not for Me but for yourselves and your children.”

Daughters of India, can we hear what He is telling us today?