Some of you may know that I’m currently unemployed. I have been for the last two months. It is the worst time to be unemployed, especially in this economy and job market, but it has been and continues to be a time of spiritual refreshing. Even in these difficult days, I feel an outpouring of God’s love and presence. I’m thankful that my family in this with me, but more importantly, My God is too.
In my prayer and meditation, God has been illustrating His compassion to me. It is the compassion of God that gives us encouragement when we are down. God’s compassion comes in the form of love, mercy and grace, which flows from the throne room of heaven and comforts us.
Compassion is defined as feeling sympathy or sorrow for someone who is suffering. When a friend or family member hurts, we hurt too. But, the word has a deeper meaning. Compassion, in the sense of God, means to suffer with. In other words, God is not only sympathetic towards our suffering, but he’s literally suffering with us. We see this illustrated in the story of the three Hebrew boys.
After being thrown into the fiery furnace, the king jumps up and asks why he sees four men walking around when they threw in only three. The answer to that question is that God was in the fire with them. We don’t have a high priest who’s out of touch or disconnected from our reality, but He is Emmanuel, God with us in and through our reality. He’s an ever present help in the time of need.
Saints, I’m thankful that though I’m in a difficult situation, perhaps the most difficult of my life, I’m not in it by myself. It seems like it sometimes, but I’m convinced that God is in the fire with me.
Are you experiencing hard times? Perhaps someone you know is struggling financially or suffering sickness. God may be leading you to get down in the dirt with that person. Show them the same love and compassion that God has shown you. Hurt with them. Cry with them. Suffer with them. We are called to be walking epistles, examples of God’s unfailing love.
In life, there are such things as certainties. Fire will come. Suffering is guaranteed, but believers can be assured that they don’t have to go though it alone. Hallelujah!
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