Category: Compassion

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The Lord’s Unfailing Compassions

Dear sister,

Being a care giver is a very strenuous mission. It taxes one physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I should know because I have been the mother of a special needs child for 27 years now.  Obviously because she is my child the love I have for her is not only indelible but it is a powerful source of motivation to care for her. However, I have learned that even my love for her fails at times.   If it is only because of my love for her that I care for her and act on her behalf then she will at times be wanting. I am only human and it is impossible for me to show her love and care one hundred percent of the time.

From a very early age I began teaching my daughter the truth that human love can only go so far.  I started the habit of finishing our day with prayers, sometimes a song, and a Bible story.  Then an exchange of snuggles, kisses, laughter and I love yous.  On my way out the door, with the lights out and her heart full I would ask her “Who loves you the best?”  The first few times she would say “Mommy and Daddy” to which I would say “Yes, mommy and daddy do love you but Jesus loves you even more!” And I would explain how that was.

Our Triune God is the only one who can love us mercifully and compassionately through and through, over and over, for all eternity.  I am grateful that God’s attribute of compassion is a shared one. However, having cared for someone 24/7 for these twenty – seven years (whether she has been in my presence or not) has shown me that it truly is only God’s compassions that fail not. My compassions are weak and feeble at best, no matter how much I love the person I am given the opportunity to show compassion towards.

God’s unfailing compassions are based on the attributes which He alone possesses. Some of these attributes are that He is the supreme ruler of all things, He is all knowing, all powerful, and always present.  He cannot be measured and He never ever, ever changes. Therefore, His compassions can never fail, meaning they are always working for the good of the recipient of those compassions, to the praise and glory of His Name.

When I see God’s compassions through this lens my heart melts.  It melts because I know that even though He has graciously shared the attribute of compassion with me so that I might be compassionate towards others, I have failed and I will most likely fail again. I need Him and I need His compassion towards me, a fragile, weak and sometimes rebellious sinner. My heart melts in knowing because of Christ’s righteousness being imputed to me, I am able to receive His compassions and to transfer those compassions to others in need. God showed compassion to those He calls His children by giving us His Son and by dying so that we might live for Him.  So, why would I not? Why would I withhold what God has so graciously and abundantly given to me? God forbid that I would be greedy with that which He so freely lavishes upon me!

I’m not perfect nor do I want to be. However, may you and I dear sister long to be compassionate like our Heavenly Father is and to rejoice when we see that His compassion toward us has not left us wanting. May we rejoice in the fact that He is sufficient in all ways.  Look for it today sweet sister, don’t miss the opportunity to rejoice in His unfailing compassions!

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion…”  Lamentations 3:21-23

In awe today,

Susan

 

 

 

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When Jesus Weeps: Knowing the God of Compassion

Dear Sister,

It’s always been very easy for me to take or leave romantic relationships. Silly as it may sound, “working things out” for whatever reason was never a thought that even went through my head. Every issue was a make it or break it issue—I was that naive.

I know now that relationships take a lot of work—even when you really like the person you are with. It may seem easy for a time, but eventually the rose-colored glasses come off and the problems start appearing apparently out of nowhere. Those lovey dovey feelings you felt in the beginning are now somehow replaced with irritation, frustration, or even disappointment with your significant other.

But Jesus does not leave us alone with our emotions on those days. He doesn’t frown upon the days when you’re not your usual bubbly self, singing in the car on the way home from work. If you read the psalms you’ll see that God never dismisses our emotions, but encourages us to engage with Him through them.

But perhaps the most profound verse in the Bible is also the shortest verse: Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

Did you ever find it curious that when Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was dying, Jesus intentionally waited TWO more days in the place where he was before going to Judea where Lazarus was? He knew Lazarus’ illness and death was “for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4). So, he waited, and Lazarus died.

When Jesus does arrive, Lazarus has already been in the tomb four days. But before he even gets to the tomb we are told that Jesus was “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” at the sight of Mary and those with her weeping. Then, instead of going straight for the grand finale of the resurrection, Jesus takes the time to weep at the tomb. Jesus wept!

In this ordinary display of grief, Christ reveals not only his humanity, but also his divinity. He shows us that God is a compassionate and emotional being who is willing to come alongside us and walk through whatever it is we might be going through.

For me, I struggle with loving someone that I’m in a romantic relationship with. In fact, in all my feeble attempts at romance, I don’t think I successfully loved any of one of them. I wasn’t even trying! But you know what else I never did? I never asked God to help me. I never asked God to intervene or show me how to love the person he had placed in my life.

So, sis, whether you’re angry, sad, disappointed, or frustrated, look to Christ. Ask Him to intervene, knowing that you do not have a high priest who is unable—or unwilling—to sympathize with our weaknesses. He hears you. He sees you. And He loves you!

Walking with you,

Kayla

 

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Where Is God When It Hurts?

Dear Sister,

I have a dear friend who recently gave birth to a precious little boy who is not perfect in the world’s eyes. In the last couple months this Mama and Daddy have spent day after day after day in a hospital with their son while their other children keenly feel their absence at home, though well- cared for by other family and church members. Their little guy has already undergone three surgeries and his myriad of doctors anticipate multiple others. Exhaustion, frustration, fear, concern, worry, being overwhelmed are probably their new normal.

It is understandable that the natural mind would ask how a loving God could possibly exist considering all the evil and sadness in our world. This past week seventeen lives were snuffed out in a school shooting. Every day babies are massacred through abortion, husbands leave wives and their little ones, loved ones die of dread diseases, we ourselves are diagnosed with the unthinkable. And if there is a God, the claims of His goodness and compassion are severely overrated—as well as the claims of His omnipotence. After all, if these attributes were true, would He not put a stop to these hardships, sorrows, and sufferings? Where is justice?

Do we, as true Christians, ever have such thoughts, no matter how fleeting? We are familiar with the attributes of God. Some we seem to love more than others. We cherish His love and faithfulness when they bring our desired outcome. When they don’t conform to our image of them because they result in difficulty and discomfort, we tend to grumble and question God’s wisdom, His justice, and His heart.

Compassion is one of His attributes. But where is compassion when troubles overwhelm, suffocate, and sap every ounce of energy?  Maybe our thoughts turn this way because we think of compassion in merely human terms, failing to understand this quality from God’s perspective. In our humanity we think of compassion as feeling deeply for someone, putting our arms around them, even trying to remove the source of their suffering because we hurt for them. We want to make it all better.

A book in my possession lists many of God’s attributes and defines His compassion in this way: “God cares for His children and acts on their behalf.” That sounds wonderful. And if He is also omnipotent in that working on my behalf He will remove the source of my discomfort, won’t He? But this is where our thinking can get skewed.

Working on our behalf does not mean making everything better in the here and now. The promise is that He will make all things right when we see Him face-to-face. His care on our behalf in this life is to comfort in the sorrow, to shelter us under His wings,  to be sure, but to use the trial to make us more like Jesus, thus bringing glory to Him. Removal of difficulties is not His goal.

According to Scripture, Jesus is the God of all comfort and compassion as we walk this unknown and often tedious and rocky pilgrimage. He walked it before us thousands of years ago in His incarnation. He strode dusty streets, felt the pain and anguish and exhaustion of the sick, the anxious, the grieving, and the downtrodden. He was tempted to sin just as we are, but through it all He honored and obeyed the Father, never yielding to His flesh.  He suffered, bled, and died in our place, taking the filth of our sin upon Himself. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,” old Isaiah prophesied. And John told us that “Jesus wept.” But, He rose again following that excruciating death, having endured the fullness of His Father’s wrath,  promising that His children would never experience that judgment but would rise again in like manner, with all their tears wiped away, being glorified forever and ever. Perfect justice mixed with sweet mercy. Our sins on Him. His righteousness in us. That wonderful exchange.

May we be reminded of these precious truths when our minds tend to deceive us into thinking this present suffering is all there is—that it will suffocate and render us incapacitated. Our compassionate God has great purpose in our suffering, purifying us for our heavenly homeland where all will be made right. If He never let us suffer we would never learn to trust Him or be like Him.  This is true compassion. This is how He cares for us and works on our behalf.

Clinging to the Savior with you,

Cherry

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Compassion For Today

Dear sister,

If I’m honest, I’d tell you I hate going through trials.  Hate it.  Yet it is in trials when I really need to cling to the character of God.  One of His many character facets is compassion.  He is a compassionate God.  But what does that mean and how can it help us in the depths of despair?  Sister, let us look to scripture to help us figure out why the compassion of God matters to us today.

Biblically, compassion seems to imply empathy (sympathy or understanding) with action.  In the Old Testament, God often had compassion on Israel after they had disobeyed Him.  He had compassion on them and forgave them of their sin or gave them relief from a trial.  Micah 7:19 says, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” In Lamentations, Jeremiah writes, “but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love (3:32).”  As we move to the New Testament, compassion is mostly used just before Jesus healed, fed, or taught people (Mark 6:34, 8:2; Lk 10:33).  So scripture seems to teach that God’s compassion is most given when sin, sickness, or physical ailments abound.  When these people were in their most need, God had compassion.  He felt deep sorrow and pain with them and then met their genuine need.  He healed, fed, cast out demons, and forgave sins, not because they earned it, but out of His compassionate love, grace, and mercy.

We serve a God who sees.  In fact, that is one of his names, El Roi.  He sees us in our despair, however that looks in our lives.  Perhaps you need Him to help provide for your family?  Or for Him to heal a sickness that threatens you or a loved one?  Maybe you need Him to see a spiritual or mental anguish that needs to be released? Does God still see us and give His compassion to us today?

Yes, sweet sister!  The same God that healed the leper, that touched the woman that bled, that forgave Israel for her spiritual adultery can answer your prayer today.  He sees your pain and sadness and still acts on it with His compassion.  But there is also a dig deeper way that He has shown His compassion.

God has seen His broken creation groan under the curse of Adam for thousands of years.  Millions of deaths, untold numbers of sickness, pain, and sadness that we thought were unseen.  Yet God had compassion on this creation that once was good and sent His Son, Jesus, to come and live the life that we could never live, by obeying God perfectly.  Then Jesus died the death that we deserve because of our sin.  God’s action was killing His beloved Son.  Yet Jesus did not stay in the grave, He rose again three days later cancelling our penalty of death forever!  His compassion results in our forgiveness and eternal life!  What hope that gives us in our sufferings!  That God’s compassion will end all sorrow, pain, and suffering.  We will see Jesus face to face and only have joy forever in heaven with Him!  Yes!  God’s compassion matters to us today!

Your sister in Christ,

Colleen

 

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Compassion to the one I love?

Dear Sisters,
I am writing this letter as much to myself as to anyone else.  You see, I am a very compassionate person, but not always as compassionate to the people very closest to me as I could be.  Have you noticed how hard it is to practice kindness and compassion towards the people we see every day and perhaps live with? 

 Our Jesus knew compassion, and I dare say it was not only because He was God and that He is love defined, I’d say it was also because He chose to show grace to the many people He rubbed shoulders with, whether it was his close family, the disciples (beloved or not) and the masses.  Even His dealings with the Pharisees showed compassion, as I believe speaking the truth is one part of compassion. 

 I find that showing grace and compassion to my dear spouse is not quite as easy or natural as I had hoped, now that I am almost six months into the beautiful mystery of marriage.  I’m in love with the guy, so why is it that I can spout endearments and harsh comments out of the same lips?  (James 3: 10-12) Please say I am not alone.  In fact, if you are reading this and you are breathing, I’m sure you know quite well what I speak of, this dichotomy between where we are and where we want to be, the love and compassion we desire to show and the amount of grace and compassion we actually DO show.  A dangerous question (and also a book by this same title…) is, “What is it like to be married [or live with/work with, etc.] me?”  Are we living in a way that would provide the answer we hope for?   

 And yet to you, dear reader, and to myself, though we have held up the mirror and perhaps we do not see something we like, I also offer grace to you…and I rest in the grace that I know is offered me.  Even the great Apostle Paul was not what he desired he might be (Romans 7:14-25).  Resting in the grace that God has started a work in us and HE will complete it, well, is that not comforting to us all?  The very God of compassion, the author of this divine gift and glue that melds and molds each of our relationships, He WILL complete the work that He has started in us (Philippians 1:6), including the task of making us each more loving and compassionate as the days pass.  Hold fast to the depths of His love, and I am certain that you, as well as I, will see it seeping through our pores, coming out in our words and actions, and coming to life in the grand and simple lives that we live. 

Isn’t it divine to be a child of the Great God of all Compassion?  Truly we have been shown this compassion, and as we rest in the compassion He offers us, I am confident that we will begin to show it more and more.  May I leave you with this final quote from Matthew Fox:  “Compassion is a spirituality of meat, not milk, of adults, not children; of love, not masochism; of justice, not philanthropy.  It requires maturity, a big heart, a willingness to risk, and imagination.”  Dare to take a step in that direction today!

 Your sister,
Ruth