But it’s often the other way around. We are wondering why God doesn’t care about our issues. After all, they are so important. Certainly my concerns are more crucial than those of others. 

The first sign of God having a broken heart is in the garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve sinned, God walked through the garden to meet them as usual, but they hid themselves. Then God called out to them, “Where are you?” Up to that time, they walked together – all three of them (Genesis 3:9). 

But now there’s a separation. Where there was community, now there is division, fear, distrust, and heartbreak. It’s the broken heart of God. It’s broken due to their lack of trust leading to disobedience. But God comes and brings correction and shows mercy (Genesis 3:15). 

Later, Moses reflects God’s heart as he intercedes for the people due to their rebellion. He asked God to forgive their sin. Then he said, “If not, blot me out of your book that you have written” (Exodus 33:32). This extreme form of intercession reveals the heart of a man who has taken on the heart of God for himself. Who would ever give up his life (or afterlife) for someone else?

God’s heart was further revealed as Jonah complained to God and questioned him about showing mercy to the people of Nineveh. But God said “should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and so much cattle?” (Jonah 4:11). God’s mercy supersedes racial, political, and personal barriers. 

It was the broken heart of God that prompted Jesus to give up his life for those who are lost and without hope. That defined the purpose of his life. His heart was expressed in his own words: “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Such a response and purpose in life is foreign to us in our own state of selfishness. 

But God is inviting us to share the burden of his heart for the lost. It’s in his character to show mercy and kindness. Our’s just don’t seem to match up with his heart. Thus we’re prompted to say “break my heart with the things that break yours. 

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