God’s Sad Too.
Ironically, I’d planned to post a guide on processing your emotions today. But God gently reminded me that while I’m an authority on many things, like my dishwasher and the Great British Baking show, I am certainly not the expert on emotional processing, and that’s okay. Instead of teaching about emotions, I’m just here to feel them alongside of you.
Last week, my feelings were all over the place. I ping-ponged between feeling anger, peace, and fear. The emotion I really couldn’t shake though was sadness. Sad about slacking on my time with the Lord, difficult diagnoses and losses that my friends are facing, my perpetual self-doubt, and the gloomy weather. Many of my friends have felt the same lately. Maybe you have, too.
My sadness—and even this post—might seem to contradict my home page message: “Let’s live our best life together!” But that phrase isn’t an empty cliché. It’s a reminder of the truth: even when we feel sad, fearful, or lonely, we can still live fulfilling lives that obey and honor God. Learning to follow Jesus faithfully in every circumstance is the reason I write.
One faithful way we can experience emotions like sadness is to remember that when we’re sad, God’s sad too. We can remember that God’s plan for us was never death or a broken world, but a garden full of life, peace, and friendship with Him. He does not delight in our suffering (Lamentations 3:33). He doesn’t see our tears and shrug; He aches alongside us.
When we remember Christ is present with us, and even sad for the same reasons we are, we experience His deep love for us again. His life changing love doesn’t stop after our first encounter with the Gospel—it continually surprises us, comforts us, and draws us back to Himself.
The next time you’re sad, I invite you to return to this page and embrace the Scriptures below. They point to a God who created you, loves you, and calls you His treasured possession. They speak the truth. They remind us that God’s sad too.
Psalm 31:7-8: “...you have seen my affliction. You know the troubles of my soul and have not handed me over to the enemy.”
Psalm 77:1: “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.”
Psalm 122:3: “Although my Spirit is weak within me, you [Lord] know my way.”
Psalm 22:23-24: “You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! All you descendants of Israel, revere him!For he has not despised or abhorred the torment of the oppressed. He did not hide his face from him but listened when he cried to him for help.”
Lamentations 3:32-33: “Even if [the Lord] causes suffering, he will show compassion according to the abundance of his faithful love. For he does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.”
*note: this verse is originally written in response to the Lord’s judgement and destruction of Jerusalem that led to their Babylonian exile. It does not indicate that God is the cause of all suffering in our world…because He’s not!
Matthew 6:2-4, 6, 10: “Then Jesus began to teach them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. . .Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. . .Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.’”
Matthew 26:37-38: “Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, Jesus began to be sorrowful and troubled. He said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.’ Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’”
John 11:33-36: “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’”
Hebrews 4:15-16: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses (or our sadness). . .Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
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If you made it to the end of this list, I’d love to pray for you and any sadness you might be feeling this week—not that it would magically disappear, but that you would have the courage and willingness to feel it, and that you’d remember our God, who gives us the strength to face hard things. You can leave a comment or for a more private option, fill out my contact form here.
In the words of Romans 15:33, “May the God of peace be with all of you.” Always. Amen.
