Compassion of the Lord

Last Sunday (21st Sep), I receive a text message from my co-worker that the mother of two of the children in our Sponsorship Program had passed away the night before.

When I first saw the seriousness of her illness last year, I know that what is ravaging in her body is terminal and it is a matter of time that she will be called home to be with the Lord. And her two children, Xiang Ai Xia and Xiang Qing Dong is also aware of this fact.

So, when I receive the news of her passing over to the other side of Heaven, I will not very surprise at all. However, I am totally unprepared for the emotional upheaveal that came about half an hour later. I was not sad over her passing as I know that she is in a better place than any of us now and that she has complete, perfect and eternal healing as she enters into eternity.

However, my heart went to Ai Xia and Qing Dong. Throughout almost the entire day, my eyes will tear whenever I think of the two of them. When I told my wife of the news, my eyes were wet. And I am even more surprised when I told my mother-in-law (we are staying with her while in Singapore) what happened, my tears well up too.

I am surprised of my own emotional reaction because we are literally thousands of kilometers away from these kids. As I ponder over my strong emotional reaction, Father reminded me that Sunday of Psalm 68 that He told me at the beginning of this year that He is the Father to the fatherless, a defender of the widows...... I know that Father want to use me to speak up for the needs of the many underprivileged children in the mountainous regions of China where many of them literally lost their parents through sickness, suicides, divorces, accidents, abandonment or simply not being at home as their parents work in major cities thousands of kilometers away trying to earn some money. Yet, I am still thinking over my emotional outburst for the Ai Xia and Qing Dong.

This morning in my usual morning run and listening to the teaching on the Bible, I came across the speaker mentioning about the Compassion of the Lord. And compassion simply means Father feeling the pain of others who are in pain. And that struck a chord in my spirit and heart.

I felt that Father is telling me that what I experience on Sunday over Ai Xia and Qing Dong is the compassion of the Lord for them. Father knows the pain of these two kids who had lost their father in 2006 and now lost their mom. Father not only knows of their pain but also feel their pain too. He knows the pain of loosing someone close because He 'lost' Jesus when Jesus was hung on the cross for the sin of the world.

And He wants us to feel the same compassion for those who are lost and hurting in this world. It is only when we feel that pain as Father does that we UNDERSTAND His compassion. It is only when we are willing to feel the pain as Father does that we SEE people as who they really ARE and not what they are trying to portray to the world. It is only when we feel the pain as Father does that we do not see NON-BELIEVERS as TARGET FOR CONVERSION or MINISTRIES as a JOB to be done. It is only when we feel that pain as Father does that we that we are NO LONGER concern with the result of the ministry but rather more concern for the people that He has placed in our ministry.

And strangely, it is in experiencing His pain for the people that we are reminded of our own frail humanity. I think I had mentioned over a number of times that we are taught to be strong so that we can do the work of the Lord. I am not saying that this is entirely wrong. However, many of us has gone to the extreme of this 'being strong' disposition that we shut off our own emotion (especially the so called negative emotion like sorrow) and blinded to our own fraility that we no longer relate to the inner man of the people that Father placed in our heart.

And I find it oddly strange as I frequently read news of how some people are so fill with compassion for stray dogs or cats (not that animals or the love of animals are not important) that they are willing to part with thousands of dollars to save them. However, when being confronted with the suffering of fellow human, the response is lukewarm at best.

My thought as I write this blog now is that I want to experience this compassion of the Lord as frequent as possible so that I will constantly see the world through His eye.

When was the last time that we saw the suffering of people that move our spirit to cry? When we read of the earthquake in Sichun, China that took more than 70,000 lives and left many maimed for life, does tears well up in our eyes? When we read of the even more many that perish in the typhoon that hit Mynmar, did our heart breaks. Or do we simply shake our head saying that all these are the signs of the last days and judgement is coming, and than go on to our next cup of coffee?

I pray that as you read today's journal of mine, it will encourage you to ask Father to share His compassion of the lost and hurting with you. I am sure He is more than willing to share it with you. The question is really are we willing to share with Him?