“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” —Exodus 34:6
The first characteristic God used to describe himself to Moses was compassionate.
It’s amazing to think that we serve a God who is sympathetic to our struggles and burdened by what budens us. Knowing this, it seems only fitting that we focus on praying for our kids to be marked by compassion in their own lives.
Henri Nouwen describes compassion as this:
Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears.
Today, we will look at the story of Joshua and Rahab, seeing God’s compassion in action as he spared Rahab’s life and even elevated her to be included in his own lineage.
I’m challenged to revisit compassion in my own life and pray for the Lord to teach me to see the world through his eyes and respond as he leads.
Join me in praying compassion for our families this week.
As parents, we know raising kids is the opposite of neat and tidy. Each day brings wins, losses and valuable lessons. Pardon the Mess is a place where we discuss parenting and faith in a biblical, approachable and relatable way. We may cry and laugh while we learn and grow together in our beautiful mess.
Follow Pardon the Mess on Instagram and Facebook!
Cynthia is a wife, mother, podcaster, blogger, and everyday girl who is committed to not taking herself too seriously. She hosts the popular MESSmerized podcast, and spends her days laughing, parenting, and praying for her family to chase after their God-sized dreams. Her first book, Life is Messy, God is Good, is available for pre-order now on Amazon!