Page 1 - Compassion - August 2018 - Truth & Tidings

ou know he’s there. So does every- who are characterized by it are among the
one else. The torment on his face is strongest, most godly of Christians.
palpable, a single tattered and
Yblotted cover revealing pages of Our Compassionate God
pain inside. She smiles a nervous smile, but Compassion begins with God, so if we
isn’t fooling anyone – her eyes betray fear, want to learn what it means, we must start
rimmed red and silently crying out for help. with Him. If you flip or swipe to the begin-
Most of your friends, even believers, smile ning of your Bible and skim the first few
weakly in her direction and get through their chapters, you’ll find something extraordi-
“hellos” as quickly as possible. They retreat to nary. In Genesis chapter 1, God is named
their space and the comfort of less emotion- Elohim, the strong and eternal maker of
ally demanding friends. Some go out of their Heaven and Earth, and He is a flurry of activ-
way to avoid the mess entirely. Don’t let this ity. God divinely creates, makes, says, sees,
be you. Go to them. Not for the evening, the calls, and does for six days. His power is awe-
week, or whenever; go for as long as they need some. He is the God of the universe! Reading
you. They can’t, and likely won’t, offer you chapter 2, we might be tempted to think it’s
anything in return. You won’t know what to just a summary of the first chapter. It’s not.
do. You’ll be exhausted. You may get hurt, Notice that here, the Scripture refers not to
and you may not be thanked. The endeavor God, but to the Lord God! What’s the differ-
won’t earn you fame, wealth, or even satisfac- ence? The Lord God means Jehovah, or the
tion. To take on labor like this is to assume God Who is with and near to us. Jehovah,
one of the most understated, but valuable of Who was, Who is, and Who will be, is a
Christian virtues, compassion. Compassion name God takes to describe His relationship
literally means “to suffer with,” and those to each of His people. So, what happened