He Rises to Show You Compassion

March 22

If there is one place in the New Testament where Jesus’ love is evidenced completely, it is in Acts 7:56. Here, Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is being stoned. Saul, the future Apostle Paul, is standing by, holding the garments of those who are casting the stones. Stephen, at the threshold of Heaven, sees Jesus standing at God’s right hand.

We are told in other places in scripture that Jesus sits at the right hand of God, but here, with his dying breath, Stephen affirms that Jesus is standing. We can extrapolate from his account that our Savior is rising to greet him upon his arrival into Heaven. What a precious insight this gives us of what our own entry into the realm of glory will be!

There is another place in the Word where our God is depicted as standing. It is in Isaiah 30:18 where it says, “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. “Blessed are all who wait for Him.” Perhaps the key difference between the Old and New Testament accounts of the Lord’s position is the word ‘wait.’

Perhaps these examples give us an indication of God’s watchfulness over us even if it is not evident. Though He is ever in a position to help us in our time of trial, we cannot always perceive His readiness. Whether we are at the threshold of His presence and can see Him clearly as did Stephen or whether we must wait as we merely muddle through, we can be sure that HE is poised to ‘be there’ at our point of need.