Journey to the Cross
But we have reason to groan because we live in a world that is breaking under the harsh burden of the destructiveness of sin. Every day we are greeted by corporate sin, cultural sin, institu- tional sin, and individual sin. Sin never has a good harvest. Sin always deceives, divides, and destroys. It always promises what it can’t deliver and delivers things that were not part of the bargain. Sin masquerades as something it is not and can never be. It is the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing. It has left both humanity and the surrounding creation broken and crippled. Think about when we typically groan. We groan when we’re disappointed. We groan when we’re grieving. We groan when we’re in pain. We groan when we’re frustrated. We groan when we feel weak. We groan when we’re exhausted. We groan when things are not the way they are supposed to be. It’s right to groan for the right reason. It’s right to be sad at what sin has done to you and every- thing around you. It’s good to be frustrated when you’ve allowed yourself once again to be hoodwinked by sin. It’s good to groan at how sin makes marriage difficult and parenting a travail. It’s good to mourn the effect of sin on the church and the workplace, on education and government. It’s good to groan when the spiritual battle has left you tired and wounded. It’s right to groan when you see loved ones trapped in sin’s deceit. Here’s what is important to understand: your groaning is either anger that you’ve not gotten your way or a cry that God would get his holy, loving, wise, and righteous way. Groaning is either, “Will my kingdom ever come?” or it is, “Your kingdom come.” It is good to stop and examine your groaning and to give yourself to a season of the right kind of groaning. After all, you do live in
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