TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Luke 7:13
Read: Luke 7:11-13
Listen: Luke 7
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Jesus enters the town with a large crowd of disciples and followers at the same time a funeral procession is coming out of Nain. As these two crowds merge, the plight of a widow grieving her son’s death is not lost on Jesus. No one calls out to him nor begs him for help. He is naturally drawn to the woman as he sees and then feels her desperate situation.
Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus continually responding with a heart of compassion. This isn’t some peripheral aspect of his character. It is who God is. His character never changes, even though our circumstances do. God says in Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Our God always sees us and is drawn with compassion to our hard spaces.
When hard times hit, our emotions can go into overdrive, and it’s easy to wonder if God sees our situation or even cares about it. We only have to look at the cross to be assured of his care. Jesus’s death on the cross on our behalf is God stepping into our situation. He came to fix our most pressing problem by dying for the sins we cannot fix on our own. Dying in our place is an incredible demonstration of his compassion that comforts us whether or not our difficulties go away.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Spend time in prayer praising God for his heart of compassion and how it’s his nature to see and turn toward your difficult situations. In your own words, honor him for never leaving you when life gets hard and for always keeping his promises. Then thank him for showing his love by dying on the cross in your place.
2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.
June is WORSHIP. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
