The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
Psalm 145:8
Sometimes you run across a verse that jumps out at you and screams, “You need to hear this today!” This is one of those verses. How does God assure us in a world where uncertainty is the new norm? Many people currently live in a state of heightened anxiety because of new rules and guidelines never experienced before in our current society. What do we do? How do we survive when everything we know changes and creates uncertainty with a new normal? We survive by realizing the Lord loves us.
I believe this passage gives us fantastic hope in the one who controls the universe.
The Lord is Gracious Because of His Compassion
The Lord is gracious. He desires to provide blessings in our lives because of His great love for us. Many of us experience difficult times, but the Lord wants us to understand that He provides things in our lives that we don’t deserve. This provision is a blessing. Sometimes it is difficult to see the Lord’s blessing in our lives when we focus on our difficulty. That difficulty often turns to depression. I want to encourage you not to let that happen.
We must focus on the Lord’s blessing in the middle of our difficulty.
The Lord is Compassionate Because of His Patience
The Lord is compassionate. Think about how you show compassion. I think about all of the commercials we see around the holidays. You know the ones. These commercials show dogs and cats who need medical help. Sad music plays in the background. They encourage us to pay $19 a month to provide support to their organization and help the animals they nurture back to health. You know the commercial when you hear the music start to play, and when you look at those animals, you feel compassion. Why? Because they need help, and they need healing. These commercials pull at your heartstrings to encourage you to show love in a certain way.
This is compassion. This is how the Lord looks at us. He sees us as people who need help and healing.
I’m thankful the Lord loves us so much that He demonstrates compassion and provides blessings in our lives.
The Lord is Patient Because of His Love
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the Lord is patient with me. There are so many times I need His patience. How about you? There are times when I disappoint Him. Sin in my life deserves quick discipline from Him, but He is patient and often allows me to learn from my poor choices. The Lord demonstrates great patience as He deals with me.
I am thankful for His patience. Again, this is an attribute the Lord demonstrates to us. But if we are honest, it is also something the Apostle Paul encourages us to demonstrate. In Galatians 5:22, Paul says we should show patience as a sign of our growing relationship with the Lord.
So how is that going in your life? Do you give people a pass when they offend you? Do you demonstrate patience with your spouse? How often do you show patience with your children? I know it’s difficult, but the Lord calls us to show the same patience with others that He shows with us.
The Lord is Love Because of His Nature
Finally, the Lord is love. Another way to look at this is, the Lord abounds in steadfast love. It is a definite “out of the ordinary” loyal love. Loyal love never fails. If you’ve placed your faith and trust in Jesus, His love towards you is faithful and never fails. His love is what drives His patience, compassion, and grace.
I realize this kind of love is so difficult to understand. I find it interesting that the Galatians 5:22 passage first asks us to demonstrate love. We express our love for Him by showing love for others. Do you struggle to love others despite their peculiarities? How hard is it to love others who disagree with you? Probably pretty difficult.
The hope I find in this verse today is that the Lord is driven by His amazing love for us and demonstrates His grace, compassion, and patience. We should find great rest in this today. Allow the Lord to saturate your day with His love, and assurance will follow.