Of God’s many characteristics one that stands out to me the most is His depth of compassion. Throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible we read about circumstances of mankind, the kind that were full of troubles, disobedience, and hardship, where God remained faithful and compassionate towards the very people making choices contrary to His commands.  We see this kind of compassion in how He responded to the Israelites under the leadership of Moses, their times of disobedience and rebellion (Exodus 34) and later in the words of Isaiah the Prophet, (Isaiah 49: 15)

Our English definition for the word compassion is a “deep awareness of the suffering of another by the wish to relieve it. In compassion, looking at the Hebrew word racham it’s expanded to a “sense of deep tender love akin to a mother has for her child. In the New Testament we find the Greek word oiktirmos which is defined as emphasizing mercy and pity. 

I was very fortunate to have a dad who truly displayed God’s character of compassion. My dad had his moments of misguided pride, however, over all he was humble, kind, generous, and importantly to me–slow to anger. As a mouthy rebellious teen I needed his ability to remain calm and reel me in when my emotions took control of my own displaced anger and wanting things my way. How he was able to remain calm, not raise his voice at me in heated conversations remains a mystery to me.

Another mystery I’m constantly trying to solve is how long God will continue to grant patience and withhold His anger from the depths of evil that lives in pockets around our world. We have reports of Christians being slaughtered in Nigeria, over 30,000 Iranians killed because of their protests, human trafficking being at the highest level in the United States compared to other countries, especially for sexual exploitation. That fact alone sickens me. The top five countries whose population engage in porography use are: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Brazil.  In the US alone this industry  has amassed $13 billion annually (source: worldmetrics.org) And now, across the United States we are witnessing increased opposition to authority, tension between our party system, senseless killing in the streets and at our places of schools, business, or entertainment. So, I ask, “where has our compassion for each other gone? And again, “God, how long will You tolerate our levels of evil…when will Your compassion give way to justice for the sins we have committed?”

In his gospel Matthew wrote about a “need for workers”. We read: “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields”.

A key take away from these verses is how Jesus reacted to the crowds and why. He saw their confusion and being helpless. This is during a time in His ministry where He’s been traveling, He’s in one area and this is what He observes. As the second person of the trinity we know He ascended into heaven to rejoin the Father and is now seated on His throne. Together–with omniscient power they have universal knowledge of all things along with all seeing. O how the sins of our world must be grieving God. Is there any doubt we need His compassion and mercy even when our evidence of disobedience, rebellion, and hatred for others deserves different? Are the populations of our world still living in confusion and helplessness?

 Even in my own doubts, my own frustrations, my own failings, deep down I know of God’s love, compassion, and mercy because He has pardoned and overlooked those things I’ve brought to Him in confession. Those things confessed to Him are forgiven and wiped clean from my sinful plate. I know that what He has done and continues to do for me is something He can and will do for everyone who comes to Him with a sincere repentful heart.

Our churches worldwide are in the season of Lent, those weeks leading up to remembering why Jesus came to us as a human, yet fully God. A man of sorrows who took ALL sin on His shoulders to pay a debt not one of us could possibly do on our own.

That sacrifice came with great cost, tremendous pain, and depth of compassion and love I won’t fully comprehend until I join Him in heaven. Until then, I will remain aware that even when I cannot comprehend how we treat one another at times here and abroad, I have a God that sees everything and remains on His throne watching and waiting to intervene in ways only He can create.

Last week I wrote about God’s creative work, that everything He crafted by divine inspiration was declared as “good” and finally “very good” when He had finished, looking and admiring from wherever He dwells among us. This week I want to focus–very briefly–on another attribute of God, mercy.

Webster’s definition of mercy is compassion, leniency, or restraint (as in imposing punishment). In Biblical terms mercy is defined as divine protection, judgement or identity. It would take a fair amount of time and study to dig deep to unpack the Hebrew word for mercy which is racham.  Strong’s Concordance defines it as related to the word used for the ‘womb’, deep compassion and protective love. Is it fair to say that the Hebrew word gives us a very different comprehension of the word “mercy” as compared to our English interpretation? I think so.

To support how deep and protective God’s love is compared to our human abilities, we need to look no farther for evidence than what scripture shows. The first person to be granted mercy from God was Cain. Those familiar with the story know that Cain became angry at his brother Abel and killed him, actually murdered, as he gave his actions forethought, carrying them through to the end. One would think–especially when the 10 commandments are given many years later to the Israelites–that God would have served quick justice upon Cain and punished him with the death penalty. But, no. God granted Cain mercy, placing two things on the remainder of his life. First, God spoke a curse that “any one who should slay Cain, would receive a sevenfold punishment. (Genesis 4: 15)

Secondly, God placed a “mark” on Cain as a warning to anyone who might try to kill him. What exactly was the mark? Scholars don’t have a definitive answer whether it was actually a physical one or a symbolic one.

Another time in the history of God’s people where a “mark” of protection appears is in Exodus when God instructed the Israelites to mark their doorposts with lamb’s blood. When He sent a final judgement against Pharaoh of Egypt, carrying through with His warning that “every firstborn whether human or animal” would be put to death, this blood mark showed the Angel who to passover, who to spare.

Another time we read about a “mark” appears in Revelation. There are actually two different “marks” described in this book. One will be given–required–by the antichrist as a means to control people, show allegiance to him. The second “mark” will be from God, described more as a “sealing of protection” on the foreheads of His servants.

Hmmm. All the way back to Genesis we see a “mark” placed on Cain’s forehead. Fast forward to a future time period as described in Revelation where God’s “mark” will be placed on numerous foreheads. Do you think this is coincidental? I dare say not at all.

When you–or I–place our complete trust and faith in God, the creator of all, we become His children and rightful heirs of everything He desires and grants us. We learned in the creation account that we are part of His “very good” work and now we see that even when our own sin or those committed against us, mercy can be replaced by harsh punishment. This kind of relationship embodies God’s very nature as a deeply compassionate and kind of Father to His children who has an indescribable protective love!

If Cain were alive today, committing his act of murder, he’d face prosecution with a judge and jury in the room. His defense attorney is God. Both sides present their case and the jury has to decide Cain’s fate. Is he guilty? If so, what is his punishment? Will he face life in prison or be placed on death row? Thankfully, God is His defense attorney and steps in to give the verdict. Cain’s life is spared. There’s no prison time, no death sentence. In fact, there’s judgement against anyone who would try to take him out. That’s mercy in action, the kind that’s hard to comprehend perhaps. Maybe it doesn’t sound fair. 

Remember, God isn’t fair. In addition to being extremely merciful He is just.  He’s the creator of life and death. He set rules in place. He is the one who has authority to give or withhold “mercy”. I’ll take His level of protective love any day over that the world attempts to dispense. And, it’s my prayer for anyone reading this today, that you will strongly consider coming into relationship with God by accepting His ultimate plan of mercy…His plan of salvation for all mankind through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now may be a good time to go read John 3: 16. But don’t merely read this one verse. Read the ones that come before and after, too. 

I can still see her bright smiling face. The year was 1987 and I had been hospitalized for observations with my high risk pregnancy. A routine glucose test in my sixth month rewarded me with almost a week under scrutiny to determine my medical plan to keep my levels in healthy range. That’s when I met her, an older black woman who cleaned my room. She was very meticulous and everything I could observe about her caused me to realize she truly loved her work, which to me–a mere onlooker–automatically caused me to wonder if after a long day cleaning hospital rooms, did it wear her out? Her answer, wrapped in that beautiful smile revealing bright teeth that accompanied the glow on her face, said it all. 

“Oh, no, quite the opposite. I get SO much satisfaction when I clean a room. I lean back on my mop and say to myself ‘my, my, my, aint that purty?’ 

I’m ashamed I don’t remember her name, but as I said, I’ll never forget her smile, her pride in being purposeful and joyful as she went about her duties with not merely my room, but several others, too. And she did it every day, and judging by her age, for a good stretch of years.

Purpose. I wrote about that a few weeks ago and I entertained a thought to revisit this word. I was drawn to Genesis Chapter 1 which gives us the account of creation. It doesn’t take long to read this chapter which records God’s work, taking six days to form everything we see, touch, and smell–and those things beyond like far away galaxies! In addition God gave a command on the fifth day for all creatures in the sea and birds of the air to be fruitful and multiply. Later, this same command is given to Adam and Eve–after being blessed by Him! Purpose.

Upon completion each of those six days God declared that “it was good”. Yet, included in His kind of leaning back and looking over everything He had accomplished He emphasized that His work was “VERY good”. 

A bit of digging taught me–teaches all of us–that the Hebrew word for “good” is tov. It means beautiful, functional, harmonious, and beneficial. EACH part of creation fulfilled its purpose. In the Hebrew which was expanded by Him saying His work was “very good” –tov mo’ed–we learn that what He had made was completion and perfection of an entire interrelated system. Wrap your mind around that for a quick moment.

In Chapter 2 of Genesis we read the account of man’s creation, how God gave Adam purpose by having him work the garden. He got to name ALL the creatures on earth! It’s here also we see God saying “it’s not good for man to be alone”. Thus, Eve is formed from Adam’s rib. Marriage between a man and a woman is established by God, and their purpose is to be “fruitful and increase in number” (verse 28) Purpose.

Sadly, everything that God called “good” or “very good” has come under attack due to the sinful nature of man. Admittedly, there’s not enough room in one article to articulate the destruction and eroding of God’s beautiful beginning in Eden, arriving to our world as we know it today. Man has done a good job of counteracting everything to no longer be 100% beautiful, functional, harmonious, or beneficial. Schemes and selfish motives have robbed us of the interracial system that God put in place for us until sin entered through Adam and Eve. But God!

Nothing comes to God as a surprise or a declaration of “whoa, I didn’t see that coming!” Because He is all knowing He had a plan when things fell apart. There’s no real answer for how long between Adam and Eve being placed in the garden before satan came to have a chat, eventually leading them into darkness. Was it 10 days? A 100? Was it 100 years? What answer does matter is that Jesus and a plan of redeeming us was already in place. I believe that God–as a triune God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit wrote that plan before verse one in Chapter 1…’In the beginning….”

Purpose. Today,  and anytime for that matter, take a good look around you. Everything you see, touch, and smell was created. It all has purpose. It all was called “good” thousands of years ago. Six days of work  was called “very good” and you, me, all of mankind is included in that declaration! Like the wonderful woman who cleaned my hospital room we, too, can lean back now and declare to God regarding what we observe and say “my, my, my, ain’t that purty?”  And good.