Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.
He Longs.
Longing for something is a deep feeling, and when I think of longing several things come to mind. A Longing could be…..
A child counting the days until Christmas
A teacher waiting for summer break
A weary traveler headed for home
A poor family dreaming of better things for their children
A woman who desperately wants to taste motherhood, but cannot
A wife awaiting her husbands return from military service
A mom and dad who haven’t heard their child’s voice in weeks
An orphan who hopes for a mother and father
A patient anticipating a cure
These things that make me think of what it means to long for something. A longing is a yearning, a deep desire, a hunger, a craving, and this one drives it home for me – an ache. That’s how deeply, if not more deeply, our Father feels about extending grace to you. He longs – He aches to do it.
to be gracious
Gracious in the original language is “chanan” which means “to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior”. Have you ever been around a toddler that you just wanted to get to know a little better and they were scared of you? You admire them from afar and they are so precious. You think to yourself “I don’t know why she’s afraid of me. I won’t hurt her. If she would let me hold her, she would see she would like me.” As the little one clings to momma’s leg, you try to make conversation, but the child hides its face. It’s only our nature to bend down and speak softly to the child and show them you can be trusted. It’s our nature because that’s His nature. He LONGS to “stoop in kindness” to you.
He waits… to have compassion
Compassion – from the word “racham”, this word pictures a deep, kindly sympathy and sorrow felt for someone who has had an affliction or misfortune. This sympathy and sorrow is accompanied with the desire to relieve the suffering.
That’s Him. Aching to stoop down in kindness and waiting to relieve my suffering. That’s Him. That’s the God I love.
Make my heart long and ache to please you and serve you as much as yours aches to touch me. I pray that I would not be timid when you speak to me, that I would not hide my face, but that I would trust you as you bend toward me. I try to imagine what only one touch of your finger upon my heart would do, and I can’t fathom it. If I could just touch the hem of your garment, I would never be the same. Oh thank you, sweet Father, for this tender side of you that loves me so and thank you for the fierce side of you that is my defender and protector. Who am I that you are mindful of me?
Amy Dotson, RPDOTK (Royal Princess Daughter Of The King)
No comments:
Post a Comment
How? It's Easy!
1) Type your comment in the white box.
2) Click on Select Profile. This tells us who you are. If you do not have and account with any of the choices in the list, select Anonymous. You can always type your name inside the white box instead.
3) Click on Publish and you're done!