Book Excerpt - God Cares About Me This week's Devotional comes from a portion of my book, Cries of Anguish & God's Healing Truth. I pray it will be a blessing to you. God Cares About Me The question to ask; is the Lord compassionate and caring towards us? Is that part of His character or not? This is a critical question for our faith and we need the word of God and God Himself to answer it, and He has. If we do not believe we serve a God that is full of compassion towards us, especially in times of pain and suffering, how can we possibly continue to reach out towards Him in prayer? If we view our God as indifferent or worse even cruel towards us in our suffering, our natural reaction is to avoid and flee the Lord during those hard times. That is exactly Satan’s plan, to take us away from our source of love and strength and continue to pummel us with the burdens of life upon our heart and mind. As we continue to look upon the character of God and see Jesus Christ as the embodiment of the Father, we see Jesus as full of compassion upon people. When he first spoke about His ministry, he read from the book of Isaiah. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” - (Luke 4:18-19) That is the essence of compassion, to see us steeped in our sin and suffering and move towards us and do something about it. His whole purpose to come and die was to heal us from the presence and penalty of sin. In his earthly ministry, he healed the sick, had compassion on those who cried out to Him silently and loudly. I think of the leper, who cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” I have cried out those same words too and the Lord has responded the same way, with mercy and compassion. Jesus saw the silent cries of the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years, and brought healing. But ultimately, when we doubt whether God cares about whether we suffer or not, we must look at the cross. If God cared nothing about our pain and suffering, why bother saving us from an eternity of hell? Why pay the most expensive price of giving His only begotten Son for us, when we at the time rebelled and hated the Lord? Compassion and love for us was His motivation. When I look upon God’s unfailing compassion towards me through those many months, it is quite overwhelming and consistently faithful. The Lord is always looking to create opportunities to have those intimate moments with Him. God wants us to cry out to Him, so that He can show His compassion and care upon us in real, tangible and unforgettable ways. Sometimes the Lord answers the prayers of our heart and it produces so much praise in our souls towards Him. Sometimes the Lord says no because He is protecting us. Sometimes He makes us wait on His perfect timing because He has a greater purpose to conform us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was a man full of faith in the Father and we need to become like Him. He knows our weaknesses and moves closer to us during those times to strengthen the faith the Lord has given each one of us. The overwhelming truth is that Almighty God and Creator, who spoke the heavens and the earth into existence, bends down His ears from heaven to hear our simple questions, fears, cries, praise and thanksgiving and then makes the choice to respond accordingly. Who in our lives cares for us like that all the time? He cares so much that even when we lack the faith in the promises given to us, He honors the faith we have in Him and still moves towards us.
The Lord would take the time to orchestrate events in my life over and over again to speak His word to me. Truly like a conversation between us, but with no audible voice. I would be praying my questions or fears or pain and the Lord would speak His word to me to answer that specific thought through my devotions that day, the chapter in the Bible I was reading or sermons I heard at church or even in a book I happened to be reading. Can you see the absolute care in the coordination and foresight that involves? God knew the day and time those questions or prayers would be on my heart and with His perfect wisdom and care made the decision ahead of time to put things in motion to answer it with His word for me. God is alive and active. He is not a passive creator and Savior, but cares for the smallest details that concern us. He says He sees a sparrow falling and feeds them when they are hungry. Yet He didn’t send His Son to die for them. He sent Jesus Christ to die for us, whom He loves so much. How much more does He see and intercede for us when we are hungry, thirsty, frustrated, faithless, and brokenhearted? Infinitely more. He cares and is not indifferent to us. The enemy speaks the lie to our hearts when we are hurting, that if God cared for me, He would stop all my pain. That is a lie. God is far more concerned with my soul than just my comfort and current happiness. He is looking for an intimate relationship with us and unfortunately that usually blossoms through seasons of pain and confusion. When we look upon the death of Lazarus, it appeared to many that Jesus was uncaring and not compassionate to not come quickly and heal His friend Lazarus. And on the surface it does look like cruelty. But Jesus Himself says there was a greater purpose in His delay. “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe...” - (John 11:15) God is creating belief and trust in us, and that is a lifelong process. God knows that when we can come to the point of believing the Word of God and knowing the wonderful character of our God, then the whole world is a place of adventure to see God move and nothing shall shake us as it has done before. The just shall live by faith. Our Lord has power over life and death; does anything else stand a chance against Him? How much do we need the account of the miracle of Lazarus to strengthen our faith today? How much is God doing in your life today, that will strengthen another’s faith tomorrow? Will we let Him do that work in us, even through our pain? My circumstances about waiting on the Lord to bring me my husband are just what God used to have that dialogue with me. My confusion led me to seek God’s wisdom. My pain led me to seek God’s comfort. My longing to please and love my God, led me to ask for strength to surrender my dreams and heart to the Lord. He cares far more about my eternal happiness, rewards in heaven and lasting fruit in this life, because He knows that He Himself is what will give my life meaning, purpose and true satisfaction and what I would regret most in heaven if none of those things were in my life now and for all eternity. Let’s make it personal for you. Is there a spouse that frustrates you and breaks your heart? Do you find the Lord continually asking you to show love to someone who hurts you over and over again, knowingly or unknowingly? Are you waiting on the Lord to change someone’s heart you love? Do you have to be obedient to the Lord and confront certain sins in a gentle, loving manner, instead of avoiding it or blowing up at it? Do you need to see God show His compassion upon you with a word from Him, or moving in your circumstances? I’m going to guess that yes you do. God sees the needs of your heart too. Reach out to the compassionate Maker who always has His eyes and ears upon you, longing to grow your relationship with Him. Reach out to the God who personally knows you and cares for you just as much as He does me. Though my heart was broken so much during this journey and sometimes I wished I had never gone down this path with Jonathan, but I am thankful for God allowing him into my life. The Lord used Jonathan to reach places in my heart that were so wounded and damaged and hidden for years. His godly character and walk with the Lord inspired me to walk with the Lord more closely and deeply. God used my love for Jonathan, to speak God’s love and truth to me. Oh how much fruit has come from all of that, that I could never, ever, regret that experience, even the pain. His ways are higher than mine and God is all wise and knowing. I trust that He has the very best for me, better than what I think is best for me. God is my Creator and knows how He made and designed me to truly experience His love and the full abundant life. He cares about my total well-being and happiness. SCRIPTURES 1 John 3:1 – “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God...” 1 Peter 5:7 – “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” Nahum 1:7 NIV – “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” 2 Corinthians 1:3 – “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.” Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Psalm 86:15 – “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Matthew 15:32 – “Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.” Matthew 14:14 – “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.” Mark 1:41 – “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.” Psalm 111:4 – “He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered; The LORD is gracious and full of compassion.” Isaiah 49:14-16 - “But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” THE LIE WE BELIEVE – God doesn’t care about me or have any compassion for me during my suffering. God will never do anything about the things I face in this life. THE TRUTH TO KNOW – God cares intimately about what concerns me personally. God is actively working to speak to me and act on my behalf because He is full of compassion for me.
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Christy Cox is an author and believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Archives
June 2017
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