Based on Mark 8:1-8 (New King James Version)
“In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, ‘I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.’ Then His disciples answered Him, ‘How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ And they said, ‘Seven.’ So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.”
There are many who question the love and compassion of the Lord. Many ask or meditate within themselves, if God is good or merciful, why does He allow so many bad things to happen in the world? Why does He let evil reign in the world? Why doesn't He answer my prayers? And it is because of questions like these that many justify their disbelief. God is judged at every moment, and for different reasons. But, in order to understand these things, it is necessary to come to understand certain realities, and I am afraid to say, that reality or truth is not always something pleasant for us, but the truth is the most important thing because His truth is what will make us free.
The point is that we must understand positions, both God's position and our position. To begin, God is God, and in order to focus things even more, we are talking about the true and only God (because there are many false gods and idols). Why make this clarification? Because there are many people who believe that all religions lead to the same God, which is impossible, because there are several religions that believe that there are many gods and deities. And of course, if it is the same god, how would he say one thing to one group of people, and another thing to another group of people? In short, we are talking about the true God, the triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the God of the Holy Bible. Now, God is God, and as God, there is nothing or no one higher in the entire universe. Nobody commands God. No one can impose anything on God, much less subject Him to something. As God, He is Sovereign and He can do as He pleases, especially with all of His creation. And in conjunction with that, we must understand that, as God, He does not owe anything to anyone, much less to humanity. He has no obligation to anyone. So, God can do whatever He wants. That is reality.
So, what is our position? A very bad one. Why? Because God created and made man to serve Him, to fulfill His purposes. And what did man do? He rebelled against His Creator. Within the free will that God gave him, instead of following the reason for his existence, man wanted to be like God, he wanted to put himself in competition with God. That was what the devil used to tempt man. As it is written: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:1-6. And some might say: “That was Adam and Eve's fault, and it wasn't my fault.” And possibly, it was not your fault how this whole problem started, but yes, each of us have voluntarily sinned against God. And with every sin that is committed, God is offended, without exception. This is what the Word says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romanos 3:23. So, there is no one here who has not offended God, by using their free will to sin against the Almighty. And the wages of sin is death, even more accurately, eternal damnation, eternal death, because this is also written: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” Ezekiel 18:20. This is our reality. All of us have practically killed our souls with our actions, and willingly. The devil can only tempt, but no one has the power to make man sin, not even the devil, because God gave us free will.
What then is our duty, despite our fallen and sin-contaminated nature? Even though we have sinned, that does not free us from the reason for our existence. Sin takes away the reward that comes with serving God, but not our obligation. The duty of every human being is to come to recognize God, and to serve Him regardless of whether they are saved or not, because even the devil will one day have to acknowledge the Most High, and humble himself before Him, but not for salvation or forgiveness, but to honor God. “For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” Romans 14:11. You may ask, “How can a person know of God if they ignore so much?” And this is what the Word answers: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20. So, if God says that there is no excuse, it is because there is no excuse and no exceptions. Every human being has the capacity and the means to know that God exists and what He is capable of, and therefore, they know that He must be sought after.
So how can we see God's compassion? In everything. If we have already established that God is Sovereign, and that He owes nothing to no one, and we have exposed our bad position before God, we should be able to see very clearly His compassion, His mercy, His grace, and most importantly, His love, because God chose to love us despite who we are and what we have done against Him. God sends rain on the just and on the unjust. God gives life to every human being. But the greatest compassion is what He did through His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Word says: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. This is what makes God so good and so great, that even though we have only done things worthy of death, He chose to love us and give us the opportunity to obtain eternal life through the Lord. So, His compassion goes beyond the loaves and fishes. There is something infinitely greater that He has given us that surpasses everything superficial and temporary that we think should demonstrate His compassion. So, do you repay God with your life for the great and undeserved compassion that He has shown you, and continues to show you daily? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel!