What mental image comes into your mind when you think about the idea of “tender care”? It may be the picture of a new mother contentedly rocking her little one to sleep or it may be an elderly husband sitting at the bedside of his critically ill wife and gently touching her arm, reassuring her of his love. It might be of someone stirring a very large pot of soup so that the hungry can have meal or a nurse tending to the wounds of someone who has been injured. It could simply be someone who is willing to take the time to visit and encourage an invalid or make a phone call to a friend who is experiencing grief or loss. Tender care usually comes out of a heart of compassion, doesn’t it? The dictionary says that compassion is “the deep feeling of sharing the suffering of another in the inclination to give aid or support, or to show mercy.”
One of the phrases that the writers of the Gospels often used as they discussed the way that Jesus lived when He was here on earth was “He was filled with compassion”. He saw the multitudes and was moved by their situations. He met individuals and He identified with their pain and their struggles. The sick came to Him to be healed, so He showed them His mercy and His power in not only healing them physically but offering to them forgiveness of their sins. When the disciples were frightened or hungry, He listened to them and met their needs. Before He left them, He made clear to them that they would not be alone because His Holy Spirit would come to be their advisor and their comforter. He truly was compassionate.
Did you know that we, too, have Someone who “understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin”? In fact, we are told in Hebrews 4: 15 – 16 that “we can come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” That is God’s promise to you!
The Promise of GOD’s TENDER CARE – I Peter 5: 7
