Can We Hurt God?

by Charlotte Cosden

There are many Christians who go through life heavy-hearted, and filled with guilt unnecessarily. To believe that we can hurt God, by what we do or don't do, is to put ourselves on a level with God. We can hurt ourselves by breaking fellowship with Him, but cannot hurt God. He is Almighty and Sovereign!

The Word, however, does tell us that we can grieve the Holy Spirit, in Genesis 6:6, "And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was GRIEVED IN HIS HEART." The basic difference between "hurting", and "grieving" is that   hurt involves the self-feelings of someone, whereby grief is self-less. God does not experience hurt feelings when we break fellowship with Him, through disobedience and unbelief, but He is grieved, or made sorrowful, on OUR behalf, because we actually hurt ourselves, and He has our best interest at heart. A typical illustration of this portrayed in our earthly lives, would be as follows. If your child disobeys you by running out into the street, and gets hit by a car, your feelings are not hurt! You are "grieved" that your child hurt himself. His disobedience causes you sorrow, because you love him. in essence, we cannot hurt God. The Lord is grieved on our behalf, not His own. If we continue to believe that we have the ability to hurt God, we exercise pride. You see, when we recognize that we can grieve Him, and sense His Love and compassion, we're now in a place to repent.

Some may reason. "Well, there is not such a major difference", but the truth of the matter is, that it is a matter of life and death. Mankind must perceive God to be exactly who He claims He is in the Scriptures. A sinless, HOLY God. Sin cannot dwell in His presence. Guilt is removed when we recognize who we are in light of Him. Sinners in need of a Savior. We can then deal with our condition, by receiving the shed Blood payment of Jesus Christ, experiencing Eternal Life. Does not the same principle apply after we are saved? "If we confess our sins. He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

"WHO HAS MEASURED THE WATERS IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND, AND MARKED OFF THE HEAVENS BY THE SPAN, AND CALCULATED THE DUST OF THE EARTH BY THE MEASURES, AND WEIGHED THE MOUNTAINS IN A BALANCE, AND THE HILLS IN A PAIR OF SCALES? WHO HAS DIRECTED THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD OR AS HIS COUNSELOR HAS INFORMED HIM? WITH WHOM DID HE CONSULT AND WHO GAVE HIM UNDERSTANDING? AND WHO TAUGHT HIM IN THE PATH OF JUSTICE AND TAUGHT HIM KNOWLEDGE, AND INFORMED HIM IN THE WAY OF UNDERSTANDING? DROP FROM A BUCKET, AND ARE REGARDED AS A SPECK OF DUST ON THE SCALES; TO WHOM THEN WILL YOU LIKEN GOD? OR WHAT LIKENESS WILL YOU COMPARE WITH HIM? DO YOU NOT KNOW? HAVE YOU NOT HEARD? HAS IT NOT BEEN DECLARED TO YOU FROM THE BEGINNING? HAVE YOU NOT UNDERSTOOD FROM THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH? IT IS HE WHO SITS ABOVE THE VAULT OF THE EARTH, AND ITS INHABITANTS ARE LIKE GRASSHOPPERS, WHO STRETCHES OUT THE HEAVENS LIKE A CURTAIN. AND SPREADS THEM OUT LIKE A TENT TO DWELL IN. HE IT IS WHO REDUCES RULERS TO NOTHING, WHO MAKES THE JUDGES OF THE EARTH MEANINGLESS. TO WHOM THEN WILL YOU LIKEN ME THAT I SHOULD BE HIS EQUAL? SAYS THE HOLY ONE. LIFT UP YOUR EYES ON HIGH, AND SEE WHO CREATED BEHOLD, THE NATIONS ARE LIKE A THESE STARS. THE ONE WHO LEADS FORTH THEIR HOST BY NUMBER. HE CALLS THEM ALL BY NAME. BECAUSE OF THE GREATNESS OF HIS MIGHT AND THE STRENGTH OF HIS POWER, NOT ONE OF THEM IS MISSING. WHEN DO YOU SAY,  0 JACOB, AND ASSERT, 0  ISRAEL, 'MY WAY IS HIDDEN   FROM THE LORD, AND THE JUSTICE DUE ME ESCAPES THE  NOTICE OF MY GOD?' DO YOU NOT KNOW? HAVE YOU NOT HEARD? THE EVERLASTING GOD, THE LORD, THE CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, DOES NOT BECOME WEARY OR TIRED. HIS UNDERSTANDING IS INSCRUTABLE. HE GIVES STRENGTH TO THE WEARY, AND TO HIM WHO LACKS MIGHT HE INCREASES POWER." (Isaiah 40)

I believe that the heart of OF God is grieved when we take our sin lightly, and sometimes even smooth over it by blame shifting, but I also believe that. Oh” how He must rejoice when we receive his cleansing and move on, always allowing Him to perfect His character in us. If we really knew God, as He is, we would without hesitation, run into His Loving, forgiving arms, to receive His mercy, but never underestimating the price that He chose to pay for us. God does not see sin, and judge the person; He sees the person and judges their sin. He works from the inside out. He does not ask us to change our actions, because He is not a surface God. He desires to change our heart, and when there is a heart-change, the actions will also change. "For so a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." I pray that our finite ideas about God would crumble, as we come to see God, for who He really is - One who is grieved in heart, when we "foolishly" hurt ourselves. I also believe that in these end times, many of us will not only grieve with Him over our own sin, but will join with Him also, in a tearful travail of prayer over the nation.   

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