Lean into God’s Compassion
By Jessica Van Roekel
"But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me, give your strength to your servant," (Psalm 86:15-16a, ESV)
Are you slow to anger? If so, you are my hero. I strive to be slow to anger, but I’m a work in progress. It helps when I remember I need mercy and grace every day. I miss the mark, but I know God is slow to anger. And when I am angry at myself for being quick to anger, I know that God looks on me with kindness. His eyes fill with steadfast love, and he helps me through the mess my anger creates.
I am so grateful God is compassionate. To be compassionate means to feel sorrow for someone else’s suffering, with a desire and effort to help. We see God’s compassion for us in the person of Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, we can have forgiveness and salvation. Our lives change when we meet Jesus so that we can know God’s great compassion. His compassion helps us live for him in our day to day.
There is action behind compassion. As we lean into God’s compassion, we begin to see his actions in our lives. We experience his mercy when we mess up once again. We know his grace when he encourages us to fall forward into his arms, and he helps us stand again. All through the Old Testament, we see how full of mercy God was to his people. Then in the New Testament, we see Jesus’s compassion on the crowds. Jesus delivered his good news of freedom, healed the brokenhearted, and gave sight to the blind of eyes and heart.
Jonah did not understand the Lord’s compassion. He ran away from God’s command and spent three days and nights in the belly of a whale before he obeyed God and warned the people of Nineveh of imminent destruction. The Ninevites repented, and God extended compassion to them. He did not destroy them. Instead of rejoicing, Jonah thought this was very wrong. He pouted in anger because God was compassionate.
We can learn much from Jonah. For one, to obey right away. Second, to remember how much we need mercy and grace. We are not perfect. We do not have it all together. Yet, it’s so easy to look at everyone else’s failings and refuse to see our own. We want to experience God’s compassion, but do we want our greatest enemy to experience his compassion? In my most honest moments, I struggle to say yes.
I want God’s acts of compassion toward me. I want him to forgive me, to help me, to bless me. But when I’ve been wounded by someone’s betrayal, I want punishment for them. I am not slow to anger, and I struggle to show mercy and grace. But God. He steps in and reminds me that I need his compassion just as much as my enemies do. This keeps me humble and fully reliant on his grace. I’m grateful for his steadfast love and his strength to extend compassion when I would be compassionless like Jonah.
It's tempting to respond like Jonah. He knew God’s nature because he experienced for himself, but he grew angry when God showed compassion to the Ninevites. People whom he felt didn’t deserve it. We know the Ninevites gave up their evil and violent ways. They humbled themselves before God, and he responded in compassion. Humility is key in learning to let go of our anger and to receive God’s strength to extend compassion to others. The book of Jonah ends with God asking Jonah a question, and we’re left wondering what happened to him. Did he stay angry? Did he harbor resentment toward God?
Intersecting Faith and Life:
The next time you find yourself struggling with anger, remember Jonah. Let him be an example of how not to respond. Jonah appreciated God’s compassion for himself, but he grew angry when God showed compassion to people he felt did not deserve it. God’s compassion extends to all. Lean into it and encourage others to lean into it as well. As you do, you will experience God’s grace, mercy, steadfast love, and strength. In turn, we begin to be slow to anger and quicker to show compassion.
Further Reading:
- Jonah
- Psalm 86
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Marjan Apostolovic
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