Does God have compassion when you suffer?

When we suffer, we can take comfort and hope in knowing that God cares, that he has compassion on us, and that in love he heals.

Jesus demonstrated this when he met a leper who had faith to be healed but was uncertain of the Lord’s willingness.

Mark 1:40–42 says, “Then a man with leprosy came to him and, on his knees, begged him: ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ he told him. Be made clean.’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean” (CSB).

God’s love is not aloof and uncaring. This man’s disease and pain moved the heart of Jesus. And because, in love, Jesus cared, and because he had the ability to heal what was broken, he acted.

God the Father’s compassion

From beginning to end, the Bible reveals that God’s love is compassionate. His heart is moved by human suffering. He feels pity and sympathy for those in pain and desires to alleviate disease.

2 Corinthians 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (NIV). So, as always, by his compassionate, merciful actions Jesus perfectly demonstrates the heart of God the Father. That is, it is not just Jesus who is compassionate, while the Father is uncaring.

Far from it! This verse describes God as “the Father of compassion.” The Greek word translated “compassion” in this verse is oiktirmos, which according to one lexicon means compassion, pity, mercy, the bowels in which compassion resides, emotions, longings, manifestations of pity.

This of course is in full harmony with what God reveals about himself in the Old Testament. In one of the most important revelations that God gave to humanity of his nature, God passed before Moses and proclaimed his name, that is, his identity, saying: “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness….” (Exodus 34:6, NIV). The first quality God uses to describe himself here in the Old Testament is “compassionate.”

Examples of God’s compassion in the first chapters of Genesis

God showed this over and over again. When pain first fell upon the only two members of the human race, Adam and Eve, when they sensed shame at being naked and guilty, God of his own accord made for them clothing (Genesis 3:21). In this act and in other ways, although he had just pronounced judgment on them, he also showed them mercy.

When Cain killed his brother Abel, and God pronounced judgment in the form of banishment, Cain cried out, “‘My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.’ Then the LORD said to him, ‘Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.” (Gen. 4:13–15, ESV) We might have expected God to say to the first murderer, “Cain, that’s what you deserve.” But no; in surprising compassion, God protected a murderer from violence.

God’s compassion in healing and deliverance

This is the heart of God. Certainly he judges righteously, yet he also shows mercy and tenderness even to guilty sinners who sincerely turn to him in their need.

So, when we suffer in any form—physically, emotionally, financially and materially, relationally—and we suspect that our sins may have brought this upon us, and consequently we wonder whether God will help us, we can rest assured that God has compassion toward all who turn to him in humility and repentance.

And because he is compassionate, he acts to heal our brokenness. He cares and he heals. That is one of the most prominent features of the ministry of Jesus. Everywhere he went he healed those who believed and delivered them from demons. And the Bible often makes a point of the fact that those healed had been especially guilty of sin.

God cares

Knowing God’s compassion, whatever your need or sickness, emotional or physical, you should “humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6–7, ESV).

Our way and God’s way

Our way: When we suffer pain, we may wonder whether God has compassion because we cannot see God and our suffering may continue despite our prayers.

God’s way: He is the most compassionate being in the universe whether we feel it or not and whether we are healed or not. God is infinitely more compassionate than even the most merciful human.