JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s goodness is found in John 11:35.
Jesus wept.
This is the shortest verse in the Bible, but it says a lot about the compassion of Jesus toward those who are hurting and grieving the loss of a loved one. Jesus wept by the graveside of Lazarus, and it prompted witnesses of this scene to respond with these words, “See how he loved him!”
We could go through life without experiencing grief, but that would probably mean living without much love for others. Along with much grief, there is generally a history of love and good memories with family and friends. Jesus knew what it was like to grieve because His love for people was very great.
The heart of Jesus sympathizes with us in our times of grief. He has walked the road of suffering. He is familiar with our pain, and is that voice of encouragement to help us in our time of need.
The empathy of Jesus reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the contagious effect of sympathy.
While the Coronavirus is having a contagious effect on the world in an unhealthy way, there are contagious influences that have a positive effect on our lives.
One of those influences is sympathy, which expresses sorrow with someone in the midst of troubled times.
Second Corinthians 1:3 says, God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
Jesus went to the cross. He understands our pain. As we find comfort in His compassion, we learn how to be an instrument of God’s grace to someone else in trouble. We are sensitive to their pain, and are willing to walk alongside of them as a voice of comfort.
Focusing on the comfort of God’s love gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Eye on Integrity is based on First Peter 3:8.
“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”
These are all qualities that build unity in the church and strengthen a community.
Sympathy is one of those qualities that expresses sorrow in the presence of someone else’s tears and pain. Romans 12:15 instructs us to “mourn with those who mourn.” With a sympathetic heart, we have the ability to enter into someone else’s world of grief and offer the gift of friendship and comfort in the midst of it all. We tell the grieving person that they are not alone in their sadness.
Jesus has not left us alone. He is the ultimate example of someone who understands. He has endured the pain of the cross. One of the ways He enables us to become sympathetic is by taking us through times of distress. Then, when others go through similar experiences, we are sensitive to their needs.
Walking with a sympathetic heart is a virtue to embrace for our lives in the Year of Integrity.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Trust, today’s Focus on God examines His sympathy to those who are weeping.
To be sympathetic is to express sorrow with someone in the midst of their grief and loss.
Jesus expressed sorrow at the gravesite of his friend Lazarus. He came and was moved by the grief of Lazarus’s sisters-Mary and Martha.
When they greeted Jesus, they said basically the same thing. Lord, if you have been here, my brother would not have died. John 11:33 says that when Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Verse 35 says, “Jesus wept.”
If Jesus was moved by their raw emotion, we can believe that Jesus is also moved in spirit when we experience a season of sorrow. Jesus is not removed from our suffering. Rather, He stepped right into it when He went to the cross.
The sympathy of Jesus for our tears is a reason to trust in God for today and forever.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
