A recent experience reminded me of how kind our Heavenly Father is towards His children. It was not an earth shaking or life-defining moment. Rather, it was a small matter which one probably should not have troubled the Lord God with. After all, He is busy keeping billions of galaxies in place, as well as billions of angelic beings in line, not to mention the problems created by hundreds of rebellious kings and kingdoms. But I was reminded that since nothing is too hard for Him (Jer. 32:27), and since we have not because we ask not (James 4:2), I decided to bother Him with my request. If He chose to intervene, it would be a liberating moment and would keep me from having to experience some unpleasant things. It was worth the try. I did remind the Lord that He was not my servant to do my bidding and that His ways were always the best ways. He answered my prayer and, in that moment, I realized that He had been so very kind to me. I was impressed in an unusual way that His kindness was so evident. I suppose it should not be surprising since kindness characterizes Him.
KINDNESS AND EXODUS 34. One of the greatest self-revelations of God (including His kindness) is found in Exodus 34:6-7. The Psalmists and the prophets repeat the truth of Exodus 34 (such as in Psalm 117:2; Joel 2:13 and Jonah 4:2). Moses, who had been at the burning bush and daily saw the glory of God hovering over the Tabernacle, wanted very much to see more of God and His glory. However, such a revealing that Moses desired would be deadly for him. But God said that He would pass by Moses, and as he hid in a crevice of a rock, the Lord God would reveal something of His character. He did that. When the Lord appeared, He declared that He is “compassionate,” “gracious”, “slow to anger”, “abounding in lovingkindness” and “abounding in truth.” Unlike the distorted, blasphemous view of many liberal theologians, the Lord is not quick tempered and just waiting for people to sin so that He can bring pain and judgment on them. Note that Exodus declares that He ABOUNDS IN LOVINGKINDNESS. By definition, kindness is a gracious, merciful, generous, compassionate attitude towards people. This is especially true for those who are His children by spiritual birth. Psalm 103:11 indicates that His kindness particularly targets those who reverence Him; that is, they view Him correctly: “so great is His kindness towards those who fear Him.” This psalm points out that He is motivated by His kindness to forgive our sins and remove them as far as the east is from the west. Luke 6:35 adds that God is even kind to evil people.
KINDNESS AND FORGIVENESS. The Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 2, describes something of the terrible spiritual condition we were once in. We were dead (separated from God), “children of wrath,” having no hope and lost. Into that situation came the “surpassing riches of His grace and KINDNESS towards us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). Paul would later declare that kindness is embodied in Jesus: “when the KINDNESS of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us…” (Titus 3:4). Our God and Savior is so very kind in His dealings with us. He is gracious and generous towards us, and not mean and vindictive. He is never too busy running the universe so that our situations in life are meaningless to Him. He cares about us and invites us to cast our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7). It is not that we need to persuade Him to care about us and our situations, because He already does. He is kind. His kindness is crucial in bringing people to salvation. Paul chastised the unbelieving Jews of his day in Romans 2:4: Or do you think lightly of the richness of His KINDNESS and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the KINDNESS of God leads you to repentance?” It is this generous, merciful, loving attitude that causes the Lord to keep working with people to bring them to salvation. And aren’t we glad that He was that way with us. Where would we be without the kindness of God.
PASSING KINDNESS ON. The Apostle Peter told believers that they must diligently add seven virtues to the salvation that they have received (2 Peter 1:5-11). He said that “…in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”
We are to deal with others as Christ dealt with us. “Brotherly kindness” would be evidenced in a gracious and merciful attitude towards other imperfect believers. It would be seen in a readiness to forgive any and all offenses. It would be observed when believers strive to guard the Spirit-given unity of the Body of Christ from gossip, slander, prejudice, and divisiveness. “Being devoted to one another” (Rom. 12:10) oozes with positive attitudes and a proactive reaching out to others. Brotherly kindness is essential for our well-being as we encourage, challenge, and help one another (cf. Heb. 3:12-13; 10:23-25). Brotherly kindness takes a focused effort on our part. It will be more than worth it when we see the approving smile of our kind king Himself when we appear before Him. He has been, and is, kind to us, and He would expect us to reflect kindness in our dealings with others.
SEEING THE KINDNESS OF GOD. Back to where we began. That less than earth-shaking request that I brought to my Heavenly Father unexpectedly brought His kindness to the surface in my thinking in an unexpected way. It has stuck with me in an unusual way. But it has also reminded me that my Father is kind by nature and that kindness is seen all the time if only I will slow down and open my eyes. He is kind to me when the road of life is smooth, and He is kind to me when trials and troubles come my way. He is never not kind. There is a certain aspect of joy and peace that comes to us when we see and acknowledge His many kindnesses in our lives. And seeing the kindness of our Savior God stimulates us to obey Peter’s injunction to add brotherly kindness to our faith. Perhaps it would be a good idea to that take a meditative look at the last few days of your life and see if you can’t spot many evidences of how kind the Lord God was to you. And maybe also, see if there are some ways that this merciful, generous, compassionate attitude might be extended towards those around you. One can never have too much kindness.