LET YOUR COMPASSION COME TO ME

 MARCH 20, 2023

NEHEMIAH 9:19-21

19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.


PSALM 119:77

Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.

COMPASSION

Think about your closest relationship, whether that’s with your spouse, parent, child, or good friend. How has that relationship changed over the months or years? Maybe you have become more comfortable with that person, spend more time with them, or try to serve and bless  them more often. But above all, you might realize that you feel a growing tenderness and affection toward that person.

The closer your bond grows with someone, the more you love, care about, and want to serve them. That’s how compassion begins.

Compassion is that deep feeling of love for someone else. The online dictionary paints a distinction between compassion and empathy, saying that compassion is more involved than empathy because it includes “a desire to alleviate the person’s distress.”

That’s the kind of compassion Jesus displayed in His earthly ministry. He not only understood the pain each person was going through, but He also took action to heal those who were suffering. Compassion is what drove Him to action.

Throughout the Bible, God is described as “compassionate” or “showing compassion” on His people, forgiving a person or a nation of their sins and choosing to love them.

We, as Jesus followers, are called to pattern ourselves after the compassion of Jesus. This is the compassion that leads to action, to service, and to sacrifice.

Remember the parable of the prodigal son? The father had compassion for his son and chose to welcome him with open arms instead of turning him away. The father identified with what the son was going through, and he acted to “alleviate [his son’s] distress,” to quote the dictionary definition.

Perhaps our challenge is to demonstrate compassion toward someone in our lives. Someone who we might not be close to, or we find challenging, or someone new God has brought into our life. How might God use us to “alleviate distress.”