Love and Compassion

Why does the Lord demonstrate these things so well?  Because He is clothed with them, they are part of His nature.

It is hard for some people to understand the attributes of God.  Has God ever sinned?  No!  Can God sin?  No, never!  He can’t even be tempted to sin.  Sin has never touched Him or influenced His way of thinking.  Does He hate sin?  Yes, He abhors sin!  The Word says that God avenges His people, “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I shall repay.”  When you think about some of the things God has done or allowed to happen, do you ever think of it as sin?  Think of His wrath and anger and the destruction it has caused over the years and the people that died.  Did He sin in His anger?  No!

There are many people that won’t serve God because of the things they see going on in this world.  Many have chosen hell for their destiny because they don’t understand God.  They say, “how can a loving God allow the bad things to happen, that happen, why doesn’t He stop it?”  Could God stop the terrible things that are happening in this world?  Yes, He could.  So should we lean on our own understanding in these matters?  No, only when we understand God’s character and His attributes can we even come close to figuring out why God allows certain things to take place.  I don’t think anyone can fully understand the mind of God.

It says in Isaiah 55: 8, “My thoughts are completely different from yours, says the Lord.  And my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine.  For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”  We may never know everything about God, but one of the things we can know is that God is just.  

Being a just God He allows us all to have a free will.  God gave us a free will and a free choice to choose whatever we want to do.  Many of the choices that people have made over the years have caused devastation, not only for themselves but also for those around them.  

Think about the wars that have been fought and are still going on, are they all God’s fault?  No!  What about when the nuclear bomb was dropped on Japan, was that God’s fault?  No.  What about the crime that has taken place over the years, is that God’s fault?  No.  How many times have people prayed over the years and thought they were doing the will of God and they weren’t and something tragic happened, was that God’s fault?  No.

I was in a bike accident a while ago and I wasn’t wearing a helmet and I should have been.  That accident caused a hole in the back of my head all the way down to the bone, was that God’s fault?  No.  Before I got on my bike, it was impressed on me to wear a helmet, which I believe was the Lord warning me.  I never wore a helmet before that day, that I can remember, and I didn’t want to wear one then.  Because of my pride, I got hurt, it wasn’t God’s fault, it was my fault.  

Maybe you can relate to what I am saying through your own experiences. Nothing takes God by surprise and nothing happens unless He allows it to happen.  Because He allows things to happen, is it sin?  No, it is part of the reaping and sowing process.  There are some things about God we will never understand but I know He has never sinned.

If God’s purpose is that everyone will be saved, and He knows who will make that choice and who won’t, because He knows all things, does that mean He chooses some and rejects others?  No, if they don’t receive God’s precious gift of grace that is their choice.  

When God chose to flood the earth, did He sin?  No, He had a righteous anger, there was only one righteous person that He could find.  Finding one proves that there could have been many, many more but no one else chose to honor God except Noah.  Knowing all things, God knew that no one else would.  Think about it, Noah preached for 120 years while building the Ark, to no avail.  A little bit of yeast spoils the whole batch of dough.  In that case a little sin and wickedness worked its way through everyone but Noah.  Maybe if God didn’t act when He did, even Noah would have fallen into sin.  What does the Bible say about the elect?  “If the Lord doesn’t shorten the end time events, even the elect would be deceived.”

I said all this to encourage you and to help you see God in a different light.  God is a truly compassionate and loving God.  

Just think if God was a bully and all He was doing was playing games with us, we would be like a bunch of chess pieces on a big board called the World.  And He would move us any way He wanted to.  Our whole life would be jumping through hoops whenever He told us to.  We could be puppets that responded every time God pulled the string, having no choice in the matter.  

God showed Himself to be just, loving and compassionate allowing us to have a free will.  He loves us so much He even takes time to correct us when we sin, instead of destroying us.  The Bible says, “God’s loving kindness brings forth repentance,” and don’t forget the gift of godly sorrow that He blesses us with to help us repent.  And to top it off, He sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to convict the world of sin so that we can repent.  Was it God’s fault we sinned?  No, it is our fault when we sin.  

Was it God’s fault that Adam and Eve sinned?  No, He warned them not to eat of the tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  He loved them so much that He provided them with everything they would need to live a happy and comfortable life.  Did he know that they would sin?  Yes, because He knows all things.  Did He cause them to sin?  No, they chose to sin.  God could have killed them because they sinned, but He had compassion on them.  God’s purpose is not to destroy us but to restore us.  God wants to have fellowship with His creation because He loves us.  He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day.  And just like He had a relationship with Adam and Eve, He wants a relationship with each of us.  

The Bible says that, “God is not willing that anyone be lost but that all will come to repentance.”  The Word also says in John 3: 16, “That God so love the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Praise God for His compassion and great love for His fallen race.  He not only provided a way back to Him but He became the solution when He came to earth in the form of His Son and gave His life a ransom for our sins and not only our sins but the sins of the whole world.  Every person that is born again has been bought with the price of God’s blood that was poured out for the forgiveness of sins.  That is the kind of God He is.  None of the other religions of the world can make that claim.  

So please don’t get angry with God or reject God for what is going on in the world.  Romans 8: 28 says, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  So no matter what takes place or whatever the circumstances or situations are in your life, don’t blame God, try to rejoice knowing that if you are a believer and love God He will take care of you.  You are so special to Him you can’t image what He has in store for you.  So hang in there and never listen to the evil one that Eve listened to.  Rebuke him and resist him in Jesus’ name and he will have to flee from you.  Then put your total trust in God.  

If you don’t know the Lord in a personal way, cry out to Him in repentance and ask Him to have mercy on you and forgive you your sins.  Tell Him you are sorry and, if you truly are, He will pour out His compassion and love and forgive you and He will give you the peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.  Praise God!  God bless you and have a great day!