God of Compassion and Healing
Compassion and Faith
Reflection By Scott Stoner
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones.
-Isaiah 49:13
There is a common misunderstanding about compassion and God that many of us, myself included, were taught at one point. This is the idea that the God of the Old Testament is angry, even vengeful, and that the God of the New Testament is a God of love and compassion. Like many simplistic dichotomies, this is neither true nor helpful. For example, see the passage above from the Old Testament book of Isaiah.
The idea of being afraid of God’s wrath is not just something attributed to the Old Testament. I also find that many people have a fear-based image of God that often includes a fear that God will punish them for something they have done. As a priest, when a person is experiencing suffering or misfortune, I often hear some version of the question, “I wonder what I did to deserve this?”
I do not believe that the God of compassion we worship and follow ever intentionally harms people. At the same time, God does not save us from the natural consequences of our choices. While God is never the cause of our suffering, God is always moved to join us in our hurt and to be a part of our healing if we are open to that. No matter the source of our suffering, I believe God always responds with love and compassion.
Making it Personal: Are you aware of any fearful thoughts you have of God, perhaps thinking of God as vengeful? What do you think of the idea that God is never the cause of our suffering but is always with us in that suffering and is always a part of our healing?