Day 17: Compassion

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

— Isaiah 30:18

One of the most important things that we suffer from is an incorrect picture of God. It causes us a lot of anxiety. We imagine that God is a vindictive God looking to find every fault that we have and eager to destroy us for our sins. But how opposite is the truth!

When we look at how God responded to the fall of mankind we see a plan that costs Him dearly. Rather than destroy the sinners he decides to restore them. Hmmm. That seems to be the opposite of how many today describe Him. And the fact that God’s Son gives his life in order for us to be saved touches me deeply.

So when I am hurting I can come boldly or confidently to God because I know he cares for me. His love is healing. He has compassion. He is touched by what we go through.

Knowing I am the recipient of compassion enables me to have compassion for others. I don’t excuse what is wrong. But I consider the feelings and thoughts that lead to that action and seek to love them anyway and pray for them. I hope others will have compassion towards me. When I open myself to have compassion for others I find forgiveness and my heart begins to heal.

Today I choose to open up my heart towards others because I’m grateful for God’s compassion towards me.

kat-j-NPmR0RblyhQ-unsplash — Photo by Kat J on Unsplash

Day 8: The Gift Of Tears

“Jesus Wept”

John 11:35

One of the best gifts you can give is to open up your heart to feel deeply someone else’s pain.

I remember well one of the last times I met with my dear friend Kishore. We got together to share some Korean food for lunch in Northern Virginia. As we sat at the table and talked I shared about some of the painful struggles I was going through. One of the best things about sharing with a brother who I have known for 40 years was the fact that he could see everything through a different lense than most. He could tell that I wasn’t the same person I used to be.

He could see that I had lost some confidence. My faith had dimmed. The outgoing and energetic fellow worship leader he once knew had become very introspective and isolated. And he was moved by what he saw.

That day he gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received. He cried because of what I was going through. I don’t remember seeing him cry before or since. Perhaps it was because he saw himself in my pain. Maybe it was because he missed the person I used to be. Or maybe it was that Jesus in his heart that moved him with compassion.

When I am stuck and reluctant to take the steps necessary to improve my life I reflect on his tears. I know that God made me to give Him glory with my life. And I know there’s still work for me to do for Him.

When we’ve been hurt the last thing we want to do is open up our heart again. But to heal and to grow we must.

Today, I choose to open up my heart again and let the healing love come in. I choose to watch for opportunities to empathetically listen to others hurts and in so doing help them and I heal and give God greater glory.