God’s Compassion
I get motion sick once in a while—mostly just nauseous. There was one time, though, in a flight from California to Phoenix the turbulence was so bad…well, my nausea gave way. A woman sitting next to me, quite a few years older and very motherly, took me into her care. Her heart went out to me. She got the flight attendant to bring a cold wash cloth and then held it on the back of my neck while I desperately tried not to pass out. She watched over me the rest of the flight, and then we went our separate ways, but I have never forgotten her immense amount of compassion and care toward me.
Sometimes we forget that our Heavenly Father has this kind of compassion toward us—and to an infinitely greater degree! He sees our distresses and He is moved with compassion and He genuinely cares for us, meeting our needs—mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically… But it is so easy to forget this remarkable aspect of His character—an aspect of His character that is so freely poured upon us—when we are in the midst of our distresses.
The Lord Himself tells Moses: “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…’” Exodus 34:6 And we see this same extraordinary compassion during Jesus’ years of ministry. It is recorded several times that He was moved with compassion toward people. The Holy Spirit led me to one of those moments this morning in my quiet time with Him:
“Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us,’ they said. ‘God has come to help his people.’ This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.” Luke 7:11-17
When Jesus saw the heartbroken widow, it says that HIS HEART went out to her! In His great love and compassion, He restored to the widow something she thought was lost to her forever—her son! His kindness and compassion brought glory to God the Father and people saw this generosity and recognized that God had come to help his people. Wow!
Today, let’s not forget the character of God. Let’s remember His unfailing love and kindness, graciousness and faithfulness. Let’s thank Him today for who He is and not forget to praise Him for His miraculous COMPASSION toward us.
Katie Botello
FBC Aztec Member