The Greatest Compassion

The Greatest Compassion
June 8, 2009
2 Corinthians 1:3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort."

The mark of a great friend is not just loyalty, but the ability to truly understand you and what you may be experiencing. A good friend can see what you are going through and truly empathize with your situation. We all have a friend or two who understands how we feel. But God wants to be that friend for you, too. God understands more than you think. He knows what you are going through and He wants to be by your side while you experience the situations of life.

This may be hard to imagine; God, the Father up in Heaven, can understand and relate to what you are experiencing. But it is true. He knows the joy you feel inside when you experience something wonderful. He knows this from experience, every time a sinner repents. He knows the anger you feel inside when a loved one betrays you. He knows this from experience, every time someone turns away from serving Him. He knows the hurt inside every time you suffer a great loss. He knows this from experience, the deepest, most painful experience someone could have, as He watched His only Son die on the cross.

God's ability to understand your pain inside is very real. When God allowed Jesus to be crucified on the cross, He didn't only suffer the physical loss of His Son. Both God and Jesus knew that Jesus would be resurrected on the third day. The point was not in the death, but in laying down His life. God volunteered His own Son to be tortured and experience death in order that you and I might have eternal life.

Think about it. A father volunteering His son for torture. It would not happen. I would venture to say there probably isn't a father or mother alive who could sign his/her son up to be tortured. The pain would be too great to watch. The torment would be too much for a parent to take as a son hung there on a cross, experiencing the most excruciating pain. I would never allow that to happen to my son. The pain would be too great for me. But that is what God did. God allowed and watched his only Son go through the most horrendous physical pain; He refused to stop it.

God knows more emotional pain and has experienced more loss than you and I will ever see in a thousand lifetimes. That is why He is a God who truly can understand what you are going through right now. And from this experience, God's own understanding, He is able to empathize with your situation and truly have the most Heavenly compassion for your situation. God cares for you, and while you were still a sinner, He allowed is only son to die for your sins.

The next time you think God doesn't understand what you are going through, think again. God wants you to take your cares to Him so He might have compassion on the situation you are experiencing. Whatever you are going through, He has experienced it. He is truly the best friend and will be able to offer the greatest compassion for you.

1. What situation in your life is no one able to understand?
2. How have you allowed God to understand your situation?
3. How have you allowed God to minister His compassion for your situation?

Add. Scriptures for Study: Psalm 55:22, Psalm 103:13, John 15:13, 1 Peter 5:7