Unworthy Expression
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:14-15 NASB
Cry out – Stop talking! The verb Paul employs isn’t about speech. It’s about groans. So, stop talking. Cry, instead. Be the lion before God, growling. Be the prayer of Hanna, unspeakable. Be the weeping at night, irreconcilable. Crying “Abba, Father,” does not mean having the right religious words. It means having no words at all.
Paul uses the Greek verb krazo. His choice is unusual and insulting in the Greek world. Most Greek pagan religions considered the action of crying out before the gods to originate in demonic forces. They thought uttering cries was insulting to the gods. Fate ruled the lives of men. What was the use of uttering complaints? Only unworthy people expressed overwhelming emotion before the gods.
Not so in Hebrew. Crying before the Lord is the motivation for the exodus. Crying before the Lord is the foundation of justice. Crying before the Lord is the way of the Messiah. In Greek thought, emotional overload means lack of proper respect for the gods. In Hebrew thought, emotions are the vehicles of intimacy with God.
The Greek text of Romans 8:15 actually uses the verb krazo, not anakrazo. It should be translated “cry” not “cry out.” The difference might not be so important given the context, but it does help us realize that this act is not limited to breaking-point utterance. It is, however, a verb that describes a grating, annoying sound. Literally, it is “croaking” before the Lord. It is the same word used when the demons blurt out sounds as Yeshua expels them (Mark 5:5). It is the plea of the blind man (Matthew 9:27) and the Syro-Phoenician woman (Matthew 15:22). And it is my sound, my agony, my groanings. I know that I am unworthy, that my cries are not up to the standards of God. But that Greek mentality that God only hears me when I am acceptable to Him must be jettisoned. God is not Greek. He is the Hebrew “Abba, Father,” the one who knows my sorrow and my heartache, the one who longs to comfort me in my distress and who knows the inarticulate moans of my unworthy life. In Greek, the gods don’t care. Accept what befalls you. Be stoic. Be stone. Show yourself better than the groveling emotional wreck that you are. But in Hebrew God hears when I cry about life as it is. I might not be able to even utter the words, “Abba, Father,” but I can cry them. Every tear is a symptom of the torment of my soul. And God hears tears.
When my children were small and they needed their father to comfort them, they did not speak their need. They just sat on my lap and let me hold them. I am croaking for You, Lord. Just hold me!
Topical Index: cry out, krazo, Abba, Romans 8:14-15
Jesus (Himself) wept . (John 11.35) God hears tears. Tears are a “language” God understands. – And nothing (nothing) is better for our “vision” than tears.
Mom or dad,- when your child is crying, – what will you do?
Eze 9:4 and the LORD said unto him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and who cry because of all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.”
Is. 62:1 For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns.
Tears are reality check. Because of many years of emotional flat-lining due to stress and lots of bad emotional habits, I got messed up. I cried when I was mad, got really funny and laughed when I was sad, but glad just had me consternated. It is an improvement for me to actually notice when I am mad, or cry when I feel loved, thankful or happy. Sometimes I can even laugh when I am having fun now. Strange… But when I get to the edge of where I check out and YHVH checks in, I just go to pieces. He wipes me out every time. How else could I tell when I am in His Presence? Emotions are carried in my body as well as my spirit. They say emotions are a construct of the mind. Well, that does not explain why they are everywhere else, too. David cried out and worshiped with his whole being. Emotions are the laces that tie me, body, soul and spirit, together. Without them, I am just a trinity of isolated fragments. Emotions, in a very real sense, make me fully me. Indivisible. They are the bow tie on my package. Love me, love my emotions.
Likewise, people get pretty uncomfortable with a personal, jealous, reactive God. They want impersonal serenity; something that they can negotiate coolly with on purely spiritual or cerebral planes. None of that messy Body Stuff. Too complicated and incomprehensible to control. I think that the personal aspect of the God of the Bible is the #1 reason why people look so desperately elsewhere for another god. If He gets personal, than we have to, too.
Emotions. The one thing that is hardest to control. Hmmm. Exactly. The perfect medium for love: the Thing That Never Seeks Control. The two most dangerous things to ignore are God and our emotions. Both demand attention. Both are going to blow up in our faces if we don’t pay that attention. Wait! I can do both at once! Halleluah!
P.S. Factoid of the week (I just learned these): Symptoms of Repressed Emotions: irritable, short-tempered, over-reactive, anxious, frustrated, fretful, impulsive, desire for control (now THAT’S a light switch!), perfectionism, and self-doubt. Hmmm. I spent years thinking those WERE emotions! LOL! Further, I find that the places where those symptoms show up in my life are the same places that I am ignoring or repressing my relationship with my heavenly Father, also. Interesting. Very interesting…
Content, context, culture.
Makes all the difference in Scriptural understanding.
One of the first things i read in one of Skip’s books is how we try to control the prayer environment by talking all the time. I read that a time when i was basically non verbal and felt alienated from my God because i couldn’t get anything out.
I was shut down. Worse, what came out was all wrong and everyone i reached out to me couldn’t see past where i was, couldn’t hear me in MY ‘context’.
Hence my croaking.
Except if anyone had ears to hear they would have heard my Repressed Emotions that Laurita listed above.
Wow. Love this. it’s heart-rending… but I think we’ve all been there. When there aren’t words any more, just tears. And somehow, even if it’s small, God whispers, holds, reminding me that I am not abandoned.
About a month ago, he did that again… in my car – just poured verse after verse into me (that I didn’t even remember knowing) to counter my questions and my fears and my confusion and my tears.
And then I cried more tears, but this time of thanksgiving. It’s amazing how much (and for how many reasons) I cry (we cry). Thank you, Abba!
ps40
I waited patiently for Adonai,
till he turned toward me and heard my cry.
He brought me up from the roaring pit,
up from the muddy ooze,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my footing firm.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will look on in awe
and put their trust in Adonai.