The Trip to Ninevah

 Today I was talking to my husband in the kitchen and we were talking about raising our children. We do this a lot, like any parents who really want to raise their children in the way they should go. We want to be careful that the tools we are using are the right ones. 

One “tool” that came up in discussion is the “first time obedience” tool. This is something we have always wanted our kids to excel at, I mean, who wouldn’t? I would love it if our kids immediately jumped up and did whatever it was they were asked to do, when they were asked to do it, without me having to repeat myself. Of course, while that does happen, it doesn’t always happen. We are still learning and when I say we, I mean Gary and I as well as the kids.

The question was asked, “Why do we want to teach our kids first time obedience?”

Without revealing who said what, here are a couple of our brutally honest answers:

Because I am in a hurry and I need them to move it!

Because then I can say I have children who obey right away. (Ugh, let’s deal with that pride)

Because I get frustrated when they don’t listen.

Next question, “ Do we practice first time obedience ourselves?”

This question was hard to answer. Mostly because we don’t want to say No. Also because we really do try. But while we may get it right, we also fail. We may not be sure we are hearing. We may hear “selectively”. We may let doubt and fear carry us in another direction. We maybe just plain don’t want to do it. 

“How do we respond to our kids when they do not obey right away, or worse, continue to not respond after we repeat ourselves?”

(Ok this is hard to admit, but I came all this way and We are going somewhere sweet so I won’t back down now!)

Well, I try to use choices to get them to move forward but when they don’t I usually end up just picking them up and moving them to where they need to be. I know, you probably can think of twenty better answers (please let me know what they are!) but like I said, brutally honest here. I get frustrated. I get angry. I am anxious about the time, etc. I physically move them.

“How does God deal with us when we do not respond to or obey what we do hear him say?”

Yikes. Well, for me, I know many times I have been given another chance, another opportunity time and time again. Does He get frustrated with me? I don’t think so. I never feel that from Him. And I don’t believe He gets angry either. I also don’t think he is worried about the time. He does, after all, have all eternity at His disposal. 

I don't think I have ever experienced God picking me up and moving me where I need to be. But experience is not To lead us, the Word of God is. I was just about to say that I cannot think of anytime in the Bible that God ever picked someone up and moved them into where they were supposed to be when I realized there is someone! 

Jonah. He was supposed to go to Ninevah. He didn’t just “not go”. He actually ran the other way. Hmmm..... sounds familiar - on so many levels. 

Next question, “How did God do it?” Because if the ultimate Father did it, then there is a right way to do it and He can show me how. I saw something that I don’t think I have ever seen before. God showed Jonah mercy. He took Jonah from where he shouldn’t be and there, in the midst of his disobedience, he moved him to where he should be. Rather than get angry and call down fire and judgement and strike him dead in his rebellion, God swallowed him up in His mercy and brought him to Ninevah. That whole book is about mercy, isn’t it? Check it out.

So, when my son isn’t coming right away to get his shoes on because he is assembling something spectacular with his legos and he is not quite finished and his little brain just can’t let it go, I have a choice. I can get frustrated with him and let my anxiety rise to new heights and disconnect and start yelling. I can put all his stuff in time-out and punish him, which in some cases, might be the answer, just saying. Or maybe, just maybe, this can be a moment when I can show him mercy. Not by grabbing him and pulling him away from his project and towards the door. But by coming along side of him, connecting with him, helping him get his creation to at least a good stopping place and then move him toward obedience. I think that is showing mercy. I think it takes putting my agenda down for two measly minutes and connecting with his heart, reminding him that our relationship is important and that so is he. Fill up his love tank, it only takes a minute, and then draw him into what we need to do.

I realize that every child is different and the way their little mind works is unique and not quite fully developed. As a parent I want to help them navigate life and learn all those important things, like, sometimes you just have to stop and do stuff because it has to be done even if you don’t want to do it. And I am still figuring out how to do that. First time obedience is something I want my children to learn, but I need the Holy Spirit to teach me that very thing and rely on Him to show me when it’s time for that lesson and when it’s time for mercy. Because even those hard lessons can and should be done in love, not frustration, in wisdom, not anxiety, and in peace, not anger and fear. 

It’s such a different approach than what I grew up with. I have to remind myself that I was raised by people from a different time in a different world and they used what they knew to raise me. Although many of those lessons and truths were and are important and good, my list of what I instill in my children cannot be formed only by my past experience because I do not know what the future holds for them. God does. And he made my kids. So He knows them and their future together along with all that they need to be and do all that He created them to be and to do. He gave us to them as parents and gives us everything we need to be the parents they need, if we will just look to Him. I must treat them like the royalty they are if I do not want to raise them as paupers. I must look to the King to show me how. Because my own ideas of royalty have been skewed by my upbringing, by my culture, and other influences. True sons and daughters of the king are strong, compassionate, powerful, champions, defenders, fighters, wise, righteous peace makers. As their parent, I want everything I do to instill that into them, to agree with God, to move with God as He raises them. 

And to do that, it must be my own reality first.

1/14/19

The Rose of Sharon

A few days ago I was listening to a podcast from Bethel. Bill Johnson was talking about having the presence of God on you and so much power that when you walk by people they are healed because your shadow falls on them.  Just like Paul in the Bible.  He said, "Your shadow will release whatever overshadows you."  This struck me so I wrote it down and it has been on my mirror all week.  It made me think about what overshadows me. What Am I immersed in? What am I putting myself under. Because that is what I am sharing with every person that I come into contact with.

Tonight I went t the first session of the Passion Conference at Life Church St Charles and saw Brian Simmons.  I have heard him speak before on the Song of Songs, which is what he was talking about tonight. He did say something that grabbed me by the heart and made my soul sit up. In the beginning of Chapter 2 the Shulamite says, I am the Rose of Sharon. Brian explained that the word used here for Rose has another meaning and that is, to be overshadowed! WOW! Then He said that Sharon meant, The Theme of His Song. So Basically, I am the theme of His song and He is singing over me, overshadowing me. Oh to hear this song! To hear His voice singing over me! 

On the way home I was thinking about the Rose.  It's funny cause, as my husband can attest to, I do not like roses.  Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful and smell amazing. But in my experience, more often than not, tragedy always strikes.  The Rose begins beautifully as its bud begins to open and you get the faintest whiff of their soft fragrance.  Then, the stem begins to bend, just below said bud, and the Rose bows its head. The flower does not bloom. So sad.

People's hearts are like that.  We stand so tall and beautiful, gazing up at the Son and we begin to bloom and mature, opening up and offering our fragrance in worship. Then, for one reason or another, our heads become bowed. We bend to the artificial light and fake love around us. We become bowed down under the winds of change, stress, tension, business, circumstances. We see nothing but the ground. And we lose our bloom. We stop opening up to the sun. Our fragrance becomes foul.

So tragic.

But when we lift up our heads and see Him overshadowing us, we open to Him. 

This is Life. 

This is maturity. 

May my head be always lifted back to return His gaze, to hear His song over me, to bloom.

It Will Not Be Taken From Her

I  had an interesting thought today while reading to my son a children's version of the story of Mary and Martha. You know the one. Where Mary is sitting and listening to Jesus and Martha is working. Then Martha goes whining to Jesus (per the book) "make Mary help me". The words of Jesus I am sure can be quoted by many of us. Here's my thought:

So often I concern myself with how I can better be like Mary. Or I concern myself with how not to be like Martha but to instead choose to be like Mary. These are worthy pursuits. Here's the new thought - do I choose to not compare myself with others who seem to be just doing nothing? Do I elevate the direction God has me going and the things He has directed me to do in such a way that I use it as a standard to judge what others are doing or where they are at in their journey with God? I don't think it was wrong of Martha necessarily to be making lunch for everyone or whatever she was doing. I think the point was that she should not have wanted Mary to be deprived of the encounter she was having with Jesus just because Martha was busy. Sometimes we need to sacrifice our jealousy and haughty bitterness on the altar and instead see the treasure who is listening at the feet of Jesus becoming more like Him and bless them! And maybe even make them lunch.

Judgement

Let me pre-qual by officailly declaring that I do not claim to have the full truth on this nor do I know what the heck I am even talking about. But that this is where I am on the journey...

Without an understanding of God's Judgement you can swing many different wrong ways. These are two extreme pictures but hopefully you will see the picture I am trying to paint.

If you think God is still out to clobber us, his beloved, you will live in fear of a Holy God even though you have been adopted, grafted into the vivne, accepted in the beloved, etc. Your image of Him is that of a fierce, hard Father who's love is conditional, who is stingy when it comes to mercy and whose word is weak. His Mercy and forgiveness is, in your perception, conditional upon your behavior/ability - along with His provision, protection and other blessings. Your prayers sound more like a guilty beggar pleading with a distant powerful King whose heart is far from his people, than a bride speaking to her Loving Bridegroom. As a result of seeing yourself this way, you also see others this way. After all, doesn't God love everybody the same? This makes us all worms - vile sinners at the capricious mercy of a moody, angry God. If you know there is the judgement of a Holy God against His enemies, and you are still afraid of Him, you do not have a revelation of his love for you - in short, you think you are God's enemy.

If you think that there is 100% no judgement whatsoever you will not have a revelation of salvation. After all, if there is no judgement, what have we been saved from? Your answer to Paul's question "in light of God's grace, should we continue sinning?" is "Sure why not!" In extreme cases, your life spirals down a string of compromises and eventually you may begin to wonder what the point of your salvation was anyway. You don't feel alive but instead, feel distant from God and wonder why that could be if He really does love you and forgive you for everything. You have been lulled into a false sense of well-being. Sure you escaped hell, but do you know Him? You have only accepted a part of who God is and what He is like. Granted, the revelation of God's love and mercy for you is the most foundational part necessary for being able to embrace all of who He is, however, if you stop there, your perception of Him will become pretty much whatever you want it to be that will fit around your own brain. What you will have is a naked foundation with building materials scattered about that has not fulfilled its purpose or seen its potential. You will be like a house boasting of a door that you have no hinges to hang it upon.

Before I talk about judgement, I want to give a few of the parameters - to back up and look at the big picture.

God - He is Love. He is our Father. He is King over all and He is the Ultimate Just Judge. His desire is to Love and to be loved. When we love we display something of the character of God. This brings Him glory. To rightly love is to rightly display the character and attributes of God, Who is love. This is done by loving God, worshipping Him, and loving each other the way that God loves us. This is also done by receiving love from God - in other words, by allowing or embracing God's love for us. His love is so deep, so powerful and so unconditional. We can never fully comprehend it but what little we can grasp empowers us fully to love others in a way that we don't even have the capacity to understand. Many times this overwhelming love, this inconceivable way, causes us to display, or desire to dislplay the characteristics of God that our little heads can't understand. In these moments, we can either go with our notion of what is right and deserved and choose not to do what our heart is strangely suggesting - or we can abandon our own knowledge of love and let the strange crazy out-there powerful love of God flow through us in actions, deeds and words that defy our own perception of what is deserved or even appropriate.

Satan - There is an enemy of God who does not want lovers to exist. He hates love and will do all that he can to destroy it. After all, his enemy is love. Satan's goal is to destroy anything that gives his enemy love, glory, attention, pleasure, etc. If it makes God happy, he wants to destroy it. If it makes God look good and displays God's glory, he wants to discredit it and steal the honor. If it brings God worship and/or draws more lovers to God, he wants to kill it. If he cannot destory, steal or kill Love he will detroy steal or kill anything that loves. He is Hate - the anti-love. I will not give him the title "opposite" because for something to be opposite it would have to be as stong or at least competatively stong in power - but hate is completely powerless against love.

In the beginning Love created Lovers. He began to create a display of beauty that had never before been seen in this form. He wanted to display Himself. He wanted someone to love and to reveal Himself to. He gave the lovers attributes of Himself, of love. One of those attributes was choice. This is amazing to think of because it speaks of how it is God's choice to love us. For His love to be rightly displayed in the earth, love had to have a choice. Love had to be love in order to love and to be loved.

But everything He created, hate tried to destroy. Hate deceived the lovers into thinking that love was not trustworthy, that love had not given them a choice. Hate told the lovers that Love had lied to them in order to trick them into loving only Him. Hate wanted them to believe that Love had made love-slaves, not objects of affection. Hate said - God is not love. And the lovers believed hate. Hate was not looking for lovers for himself. His only thought was to kill Love. His deceit had tricked the lovers into thinking that a selfish, self-focused life was what love was, not a giving sharing engaging life. He told them that Love was selfish and thought only of His own desires and that they could and should be selfish lovers of themselves too. The problem is that you cannot love if you don't have someone to love. The Enemy, Hate, found a way to get the lovers to love anything but Love Himself. And whatever display of love was left, he began to twist and pervert so that the lovers would equate love with pain, betrayal and evil perversions instead of purity, safety, comfort, peace and life.

Now they had given the whole world over to Hate. From that moment on, the first thing a lover would feel would be suspicion and distrust. Their ability to freely love and to be loved was stifled and destroyed. Their hearts would always carry the scar of this choice and they would pass it on to their children. Hate's plan worked - or it seemed to, for the moment. Hate had discredited Love - but there was something Hate had forgotten about Love.

Lovers became proud and envious, impatient, cruel, selfish, short-tempered, bitter and flighty. Lovers began to enjoy the sorrows and pains of others, and the joys of others only made them even more envious. Lovers could not trust. Lovers could not hope. Lovers would only look out for themselves. The Lovers could not see what they had become. They no longer knew what God was and were suspicious of His character. They would try to love but without receiving True Love, they failed. And the seeds of Hatred were planted in the heart of every lover from that time on because they had chosen Hate and they now belonged to him.

But God did not abandon them. They were His creation and they were a part of Him. Each one was made in His image. The enemy was destroying that image and every perversion, every lie, every deceit, every distrust and despair was an affront to God and a mockery of Love. The enemy had spent centuries trying to re-write the DNA of the lovers. If it wasn't for the mercy of God - the true, real, strong, generous mercy of God on behalf of the lovers, His created ones - the enemy would have suceeded. But the creative power of God and the nature of love turned the hearts of men toward their maker. With hearts turned toward God, He could, right in the middle of enemy territory, display His Glory. And His glory revealed His character. And His character is Love. So He delivered, gave light, brought hope, fulfilled promises proving Himself trustworthy, and He did all this even when it was not merited showing the lovers even more of His love for them. Through the centuries He continuously declared Who He was and passionately wooed back the lovers.

But they were in bondage and they belonged to Hate. Love had only one way to set them free. Hate had captured them by telling lies. Love would set them free by showing them the truth. When the world was created, it belonged to love. Love gave Himself and the world to the lovers. The lovers surrendered the world and themselves to Hate. Hate held the world and the lovers captive. The only way Love could have them back was to redeem them. Love had to make the ultimate display in the earth. Otherwise the lovers would belong to Hate forever.

Love is Pure. It is completely Holy and Righteous. Love defines what is right and seperates what is right from what is wrong. That which is right or righteous is seperated and becomes Holy or set apart. These words are more than ideas and definitions. They are the fabric of our very existence. That is why no matter how hard anyone tries they will never be able to re-define life without some principle of right and wrong. People who try to create an environment where no one can tell anyone what is wrong and what is right will end up with chaos because invariably someone will determine that some thing is "inappropriate" or "offensive". They will always end up using some sort of guidelines or structure. Whoever defines that structure will invariably place a footprint of sorts, of their own character or personality, on that environment. God, when He created the world and the lovers, put His character and personality in the very fabric of this plane of existence. The very order of nature and elements bears testimony to His attributes and the truth of Who He is. This is why Romans 1:20 says "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Since God is the One who created this world and everything in it, it is only right, fitting and it automatically results, that the rules which apply were not just made by Him but are what they are because that is what He is - who He is. When Love redeemed us, we were brought out of the domain of darkness and were translated back into the Kingdom of Love. Before we were redeemed we were doomed to walk in the domain of darkness, stumbling about, never trusting love, living in despair and suspicion. Now we are in the Kingdom of Love but our perception of God and of Love must be corrected and that is something that only God can do.

So God continues to show us the truth and reveal true Love in all its glory. Everytime He reveals Himself we are shocked at how different He is than what we thought. He has many lies to dispell and many truths to reveal. As we are delivered, set free from bondage and healed we begin to trust Him more. As we begin to trust Him, a hope rises in our hearts that there could be more - that God really might actually like us and that we will be able to one day love freely and without fear. The more we realize that we belong to Love and that He will not let us go, the more secure we are in His love, the more able we are to enjoy Him, His blessings, His life - we are able to receive His Love. As we receive His love, we are able to love Him back. After all, unless He loves us, we do not know the first thing about what love is. All we have are twisted impure images that may resemble something like love but are self-based and full of self-preservation, fear and pride.



Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (I Cor 13)

What is your Treasure?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Matthew 6:21

This has always been taught in my hearing as wherever your money is that is where your heart will be and conversely wherever your heart is that is where you will put your money.  What you spend your money on reveals something about your heart.

Sounds pretty right.  And there is great validity and proof to back that up.  But let me propose another angle.  What is your treasure?

Thinking about this released me from being tied to money as the great definer of who I am and what I love or consider important.  No longer is money to be what judges me and deems my heart worthy.  No, money is a tool and it has no life.  

If I say my treasure is my family, the people that I love, and if this is true then you will find that this is where my heart will be.  If my heart is always with my husband then guess what, He must be my treasure.

Your treasure doesn’t have to be money and money doesn’t define what your heart is after - UNLESS of course your treasure IS money and your heart is after riches or seeks security from it.  Then there is a whole other heart issue that needs to be dealt with.  

So there is truth that money and your use of it can indicate where your heart is at, but let’s not limit our understanding to it just being money.  Otherwise we may not only miss seeing the real treasure in our lives and realizing the state of our heart but we may also be a slave to the money mentality.

But that’s for another blog entirely.....

Let’s look at the context.

This verse is something that Jesus said - about five minutes after he taught us how to pray.  He was talking about how we shouldn’t make big impressive speeches for those around who may hear but to pray directly to God as a Father and even in secret.  He gives instruction that when you fast not to let everybody know in order to gain recognition and impress others. He says people who do this have already received their reward. Then He say to instead, “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...” 

So what does Jesus define as the Treasure?  Well, for certain he is not even talking here about money at all.  He is talking about a personal interaction between you and Father God.  He’s is talking about a relationship.  He is talking about recognition and reward from our Daddy.  He says store it up because if you do this, guess what happens to your heart??!?!?  

Do you mean to tell me that all that striving to keep my mind focused on godly principles wont‘ be what attaches my heart to God?  That all my giving and time spent working is not going to make me fall in love with Him?  That doing miracles and preaching to the world and giving and other good works are not storing up treasure in Heaven?  Do you mean that treasure is not a chest full of gold and a mountain of pearls with large trophy looking chalices of silver encrusted with jewels??

Yup.

So, what is your treasure?  Jesus gave a sweet picture of what true everlasting treasure is - the one thing that we can pursue that will be eternal and beyond earthly value.  It’s our relationship with the Father.  And the more we pursue intimacy and communication with Him, the more we invest our hearts in the eternal.  And a natural result of that , by the way, is that the things of earth won’t seem to have the same hold and control over us that they used to.  Because our home is becoming more there than here.

And that is a beautiful thing.

Feeling Like Cinderella

 “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

And if worry cannot accomplish a little thing like that,

what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?”

Luke 12:25-26 NLT

Do you remember that one part in Cinderella when the Step-Mother has told Cinderella that she can go to the ball?  She is so elated and so very thankful until Step-Mother finishes her sentence - IF you finish your chores.  Cinderella being a good manager of her time and knowing well her tasks assures her that she will be able to do all and still attend in “something suitable to wear”.  Of course we know what happens, those few chores suddenly get put by due to the step-sisters and then Step-Mom adds on the Tapestries!!!! (but I just...Do them again!!) 

Ever have a day like that? That was my day today.  I was fixing to go home early because the boss said - if you finish up you can leave early.  I was very excited with the holiday ahead of me and knowing that my husband was at home with the day off, I was “elated and so very thankful”. Even with the IF in place I was sure I could make it to an early train.  I had everything wrapped up with a bow thirty minutes ahead of time and was doing a little extra interruptible work just waiting for the half-hour to fly by when all of a sudden step-sisters came creeping in out of nowhere.  A pile of tasks materialized in my inbox each one screaming for immediate attention and none of them willing to wait until I returned from the holiday.  As my colleague likes to say “TISNF” (That Is So Not Fair)! 

So now what? Cinderella is completely deflated.  She knows there is no way she is going to make that train...ahem...to the ball and even if she could, she has noting to wear. If Cinderella was not a fairy-tale character she probably would have thrown down her broom and declared the injustice of it all.  Or perhaps she would have continued working but all the while grudgingly and muttering distasteful things under her breath.  After all was finally finished, she would find the mice with a new dress for her and perhaps feel a little bad about the foul atmosphere she had created for herself as she sweated away at the tapestries - but what a foul mood she would have been in. I doubt the Prince would have found her very charming or lovely. Oh wait, that would have been MY reaction!  

Yes, I muttered and as much as I wanted to have a good attitude, I found myself getting more and more cranky.  Woah! What are you doing? Stop everything!  I heard that little voice say - you know the one - the Holy Spirit, whose voice sounds like a little voice but when He speaks and we listen is more like a rushing wind tearing through barriers and bindings setting us free.  And that was what he was about to do - set me free.

“Who is the Lord of All Time? Can He not, care for you?” 

Yes. Yes He can.

“Calm down.  Everything will work out. Do it for me.”

How does He do that - He knows just what to say.  Calm Down.  I was getting myself worked up into a tizzy and losing my ability to focus, concentrate and produce with excellence. Everything will work out.  So what if I miss this train.  Theres another in an hour that is still earlier than normal. And isn’t it a blessing and a gift to leave early (not a privilege or a right)?  Yes. Do it for me. That shifted my focus from the unjust creatures who had waited until the last minute to blast me with urgency and place it on my Friend - the One who helps me. The very best Friend.

So, as my sister and I like to say, the mice came.  I worked calmly through each task and a few actually ended up being delayed until after the holiday so it turned out to NOT be as bad as first thought.  Now here I am on a train which is a bit later than originally planned but earlier than usual. The work is done and I am on my way home to see my Prince.

An even deeper truth is this...

 I am clothed not is the rags that my own self efforts made but in a glorious incorruptible robe of righteousness that my Heavenly Father (not little mice or even a fairy Godmother) made for me.  And I am on my way to the Wedding feast to be with the Bridegroom! 

Animal Instincts

Jude 10 “ But these people scoff at things they do not understand.  Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction.”

OK so My dog just spent a good part of the day chasing a fly around the house - and loving every minute of it.  He can’t help it.  No matter how we try to help him remain calm when there is a fly in the house, he goes bizerk. The only way to stop him is to either distract him with his first love, food, or throw him in the bathroom and close the door.

If we are honest with ourselves I think most of us can say that when something is driving us crazy, at times it is almost desireable.  Saying that it rained during our vacation isn’t enough, it had to have poured - and if we were lucky, there was a tornado.  We can’t just have a lot to do this weekend before company comes, we must have a thousand things to do and company must not only be coming early but be the difficult kind that are hard to please.  A co-worker may tell a story similar to our own experience but for some reason ours is always worse.  Why is that?  Why do we feel the need sometimes to “out-suffer”?  Do we think it makes us seem stronger than we are?  Is is because we want so much to impress our audience?  Do we do it for the sympathy?

I once very clearly heard this question in my heart, 

“Why do you want sympathy - you already have my Compassion.”

I had been going through a really hard time (not just a hard time - a really hard time) and would not be consoled.  I wanted my anger.  I needed my pain.  I refused to loosen my grip on my sorrow.  If I told you what had happened you would have agreed with me.  I had a right to be angry, a reason for sorrow and of course I should be in pain.

When our loved ones are in these deep dark places.  We want to crawl in with them and console them.  Not because we ourselves want to be in the hole too but because - if we really love them - we want to help them come out of it.  How much more our Wonderful Father.  He loves us deeply and as good as it feels to have someone validate our pain and frustration, He is not about leaving us in the hole.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t validate someone’s feelings.  Feelings are very real.  But friend, I have no desire to heap more mud on you just because your stuck in the mud.  I am about helping you out.  Yes, you are  full of mud and it looks smells and feels horrible!  But all the sympathy in the world will not get you out of the mud.

Sympathy can help the “outsider” relate to the “victim” and connect in a way that can equip the outsider to help the victim.  But that is all.  It says, “I see you and you need help”. Sympathy does not deliver.

Compassion on the other hand is action. It says, “I see you and I am going to help you.” Compassion is harder to swallow sometimes. Compassion reaches a hand out with intent to rescue.  When that hand is God, there is no way rescue will not happen unless the victim refuses to be rescued.  What keeps a victim from receiving help?

Fear.