Christ’s Sympathy
“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7)
Why does the Lord not put forth His power and deliver me?
It is well to bear in mind that this is not the day of Christ’s power, but it is the day of His sympathy. When passing through the deep waters of affliction, the heart may at times feel disposed to ask,
Why does the Lord not put forth His power and deliver me?
The answer is: This is not the day of His power.
He could prevent that catastrophe, or He could avert that sickness. He could remove that difficulty; He could take off that pressure; and He could preserve that beloved and fondly cherished object from the cruel grasp of death. But instead of putting forth His power to deliver us, He allows things to run their course and pours His own sweet sympathy into the oppressed and broken heart. He does it in such a way as to elicit the acknowledgment that we would not for worlds have missed the trial, because of the abundance of the consolation.
By and by He will display His power; He will unsheathe His sword, He will come forth as the rider on the white horse. He will bare His arm; He will avenge His people, and right their wrongs forever.
Now His sword is sheathed, and His arm covered. This is the time for making known the deep love of His heart, not the power of His arm nor the sharpness of His sword.
Are you satisfied to have it so? Is Christ’s sympathy enough for your heart, even amid the keenest sorrow, and the most intense affliction?
The restless heart, the impatient spirit, the unmortified will would lead one to long to escape from the trial, the pressure, the difficulty, but this would never do. We must pass from grade to grade in the school, but the Master accompanies us, and the light of His countenance and the tender sympathy of His heart sustain us under the most trying circumstances.
“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:5); “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7)
God gives us peace in Himself that is beyond our understanding. We are in relationship with God; He is our refuge in all things, and events do not disturb Him. He knows everything and He knows it beforehand. Events shake neither His throne nor His heart; they always accomplish His purposes. But to us He is love; we are, through grace, the objects of His tender care.
He listens to us and bows down His ear to hear us. In all things, therefore, instead of worrying and weighing everything in our own hearts, we ought to present our requests to God in prayer, with supplication and with a heart that makes itself known. We are human beings with knowledge of the heart of God, and we know that He loves us perfectly, so that even while making our petition to Him, we can already give thanks, because we are sure of the answer of His grace, whatever it may be. It is our request that we are to present to Him. Nor is it a cold commandment to find out His will and then come before Him; we are to go to Him with our requests. It does not say that you will have what you ask, but that God’s peace will keep your hearts.
We trust Him, and His peace, the peace of God Himself, shall keep our hearts. It does not say that our hearts shall keep the peace of God, but having cast our burden on Him whose peace nothing can disturb, His peace keeps our hearts.
We cast our trouble before Him who takes charge of everything and knows all beforehand. The constant peace of the God of love quiets our hearts. He imparts to us the peace which is in Himself, and which is above all understanding (or at least keeps our hearts by it), even as He Himself is above all the circumstances that can disturb us, and above the poor human heart that is troubled by them.
O, what grace! Even our anxieties are a means of our being filled with this marvelous peace, if we know how to bring them to God. How true He is.
