Compelled by Compassion
The earthquake in Turkey and Syria has left, at last count, more than 6,000 dead and 12,000 injured. The numbers may be 5 times that in a few days. Those who have not left the earthquake zone are living in the streets because it is unsafe to go back in their homes. It’s winter and in many places there is snow on the ground. They are without clothes, shelter, food, and heat. They are also without parents, children, and other loved ones. Words cannot come close to describing the trauma and pain.
When tragedy strikes, we are left without direction, without understanding, and many times, without hope. It’s in moments like this that compassionate people rise to the call and run toward the fire.
On ten separate occasions the Bible mentions how Jesus was “moved by compassion.” In Psalm 34:18 it says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” We are called to the hurting, the displaced and those that are crushed and shattered. If Jesus is compelled by compassion, then so should we.
Michelle and I, and many of you, know what it’s like to be broken, crushed, and shattered. We may not understand the reasons, but we understand the pain. Who better to offer a solution than those of us who have walked that journey? But, we have to believe it ourselves. We have to believe that HE is the solution to tragedy, pain, and unexplained loss.
When we begin to fully understand God is truly for us and NOT against us, we can believe He will use our worst moments to make them our greatest victories – and He will use us to point others to their victory!
A.W. Tozer in his book The Crucified Life wrote, “If we understand that everything happening to us is to make us more Christlike, it will solve a great deal of anxiety in our lives.”[i]
EVERYTHING. He uses everything to make us more like Him! He is for you, He is not against you! He will take your victories, tragedy, pain, your broken heart, and your disappointments, and He will use them to create something stunningly beautiful. And why wouldn’t He?
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32 ESV)
We’ve got to get this in us…God went to the deepest depths possible to make certain that we could be in fellowship with Him. This understanding needs to be the very air we breathe. When God’s ultimate sacrifice of His Son for our victory becomes our focus, the tragedies of life become a strong foundation (as opposed to a weight around our necks) our Heavenly Father can build His house upon.
Bill Johnson, pastor and author of God is Good: He’s Better Than You Think, says, “We don’t have the capacity to exaggerate God’s goodness. We can distort it, or even misrepresent it, but we can never exaggerate it.” [ii]
Regardless of our emotions, we must incorporate that statement into our belief system. It must become our worldview, our overriding perspective on everything we encounter and struggle through. It’s the only way we can keep from misrepresenting and underestimating His goodness.
Pastor and best-selling author, Myles Monroe, said, “Your faith is only as strong as the crisis it survives.”[iii] This is a foundational truth. The size of the crisis will always uncover the depths of your faith.
In the middle of a tragedy, disappointment, or personal failure, we keep our faith by knowing who He is and His plans and purposes for us are good, better than we think. When we do this in the midst of our pain and hold on to our faith, then, when prayers seem to go unanswered (as in our story with the loss of our daughter Aly), we do not stay crushed and shattered. Instead, we move into another level of faith, understanding, and commitment, knowing His purpose will be fulfilled. We pray with increased passion and fervor, and we do not let the enemy win through disappointment, discouragement, and despair.
One of my all-time favorite passages (I say that about a lot of verses. because they’re all so very good!) is 2 Corinthians 4: 6-12 ESV:
“6 For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.”
God’s goodness is not based on our circumstances. His goodness is based on the fact that while death may be at work in us and our situations, the resurrection life of Jesus Christ is actually IN US! So even in our affliction and pain, we are not crushed. Though we may be confused or perplexed, we are not driven to discouragement or despair. When we feel lost, attacked, or struck down, we are not forgotten, forsaken, or destroyed.
His goodness is best seen and understood when His light shines out of our darkness.
We are carriers of HIS compassion to this world!
Peace.
If you would like to read more on this topic and others like it, check out my book:
[i] Tozer, A.W. The Crucified Life. Bloomington: Bethany House Publisher, 2011.
[ii] Johnson, Bill. God is Good: He’s Better Than You Think. Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2016.
[iii] Munroe, Myles. Overcoming Crisis. Destiny Image, 2009.
