The last couple of days have been an interesting experience as I’ve had the opportunity to evaluate candidates who are seeking to be hired for the Fire Department I work for. Its interesting seeing people who are in the position I was eleven years ago. People excited and nervous about starting a career. It’s a huge deal.
But this isn’t a blog about nostalgia. It’s about a candidate in particular. He walked through the door and was unremarkable for the most part. I mean there was nothing that really stood out as he went through the practical portion of the evaluation. But that changed in an instant.
At some point during the process I became very aware of a sense of sorrow pressing in on all sides of me. I suddenly realized that the heaviness I felt was coming from the candidate. I have learned over the years (and continue to learn) how to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and so I knew the Lord was trying to show me something.
I began to hear the Lord speak to me about some of the things the young man had been through and the toll they’d taken on his life. I felt the pain of the heartache he’d experienced. But I also felt the passionate heart of God that wanted nothing more than to reach out and heal every wound that bled.
I was ready. I was ready to share with young man all about the love of the Perfect Father and how He was ready to take away the pain and restore what had been lost. But there was a problem. I wasn’t free to do anything. We were in the middle of a very important testing process.
I thought that maybe I could wait until his portion was over and speak to him before we got the next one. But it didn’t work out that way. The next candidate came into the room right after he left and there was no time to speak to him. There were things going on and it would have been completely inappropriate and unprofessional of me to interrupt the flow of the day.
I had to just watch him leave without speaking to him about what the Lord showed me at all. I was overcome with almost a desperation because I knew just how much he needed what the Lord had to say.
As I watched him go the Lord began to speak to me about how He felt. Not just about this incident but about every incident when He has to watch someone walk away with so much baggage, refusing to turn to the only one who can help; refusing to turn to Him. I was getting a glimpse into His heart and it was really hard.
I think it’s hard for us to understand just how much He cares. Maybe we won’t really be able to until we see Him face to face. I know that some of us have had experiences in which the love of God has saturated to the point we can’t even stand. But in reality I think His love is exponentially beyond even that.
Here is what Spurgeon said about the compassion of Jesus:
THIS (compassion) is said of Christ Jesus several times in the New Testament. The original word is a very remarkable one. It is not found in classic Greek. It is not found in the Septuagint. The fact is, it was a word coined by the evangelists themselves. They did not find one in the whole Greek language that suited their purpose, and therefore they had to make one. It is expressive of the deepest emotion; a striving of the bowels—a yearning of the innermost nature with pity…I suppose that when our Savior looked upon certain sights, those who watched him closely perceived that his internal agitation was very great, his emotions were very deep, and then his face betrayed it, his eyes gushed like founts with tears, and you saw that his big heart was ready to burst with pity for the sorrow upon which his eyes were gazing. He was moved with compassion. His whole nature was agitated with commiseration for the sufferers before him. –C.H. Spurgeon
He really cares guys. So much! Let’s make sure we don’t turn our backs on a love like that. No matter what it is let’s make sure we take it running into the arms of God who loves us like this.
Blessings,
Jesse and Kara Birkey
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