Listening with Compassion

Here is another excerpt from the new book, “The Compassionate Shepherd.”  The book will be out, late summer or early fall.

One of the hardest thigs we must do at times is to reconcile the, perfect and matchless, love of God; with the deep pain we may be going through. We know that God loves us, yet we hurt so bad, we can’t see His love.
That is when the presence and listening ear of a shepherd will help someone more than you can ever know. When Johnny was born, our lives were turned upside down! We knew the Bible, we knew that God loved us. We had many people quote Scripture to us, yet it seemed to actually hurt more than help. Most of the people quoting Scripture had no idea what we were going through.
We know that those that have placed their faith in Christ are heaven bound. There is a comfort in knowing that. Our son suffered a lot of pain in his short lifetime. We rejoiced for him when the Lord took him home. However, we miss him so deeply, even now. I have had people tell me that have lost spouses, children, parents the same thing. “I know they are in heaven, but we’re not. We miss them terribly.”
Shepherd, there will come a day that you will be able to comfort through the Word of God. We have the promise of the comfort of the Scriptures. Give people time to grieve, then they will appreciate the message.
We are all called to bear one another’s burdens. But, you shepherd, will be called on to be the chief burden bearer in many situations. Your presence will do more to comfort someone in need more than you will realize.