"Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him, And His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs, And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes." Isaiah 40:10-11 NAS

Here in these two verses we see the power of God and the gentleness of God side by side. We serve an awesome, great and mighty all-powerful God. We also serve a God who is gentle, loving and compassionate. It is very important to have a correct viewpoint of God. An incorrect viewpoint of God will effect your overall relationship with Him. This is why so many people have a hard time drawing near to God. Their view of God is skewed.

For some He is this powerful, overbearing, angry, full of rules and always pointing His finger down ready to pounce on us when we mess up type of God. For others it might be the exact opposite. They would tend to lean on the gentleness of God. God would never send a good person to hell. He is a loving God full of grace and mercy and of course unconditional love. While each of these viewpoints is skewed, the scriptures show the true nature of God and His attributes.

Here in these two verses we see that He is all-powerful and completely gentle. This is something we might find to be a problem with men. Well, at least men who have not accepted Jesus as their Savior. For the most part men who have accepted Jesus as their Savior are in a growing relationship to His love and finding out what it means to be a man of God. We men are given the idea that being manly is to be a no crying, macho, big truck driving tough guy.

We strive to be first in all we do. We are driven by competition and getting the most toys. In fact that is what the bumper sticker says, "He who dies with the most toys wins." What a sad condition and definition we have in the world of what it means to be a man. God shows us that He is strong and all-powerful. He shows us that real men are strong in Him. Also He shows us that real men do cry. In fact as most of you know the shortest verse in the Bible is, "He wept (John 11:35)."

Jesus was a real man and He cried over the hurts of His people. Jesus is our Shepherd and all throughout the Gospels He felt compassion on His sheep. You can imagine hearing Him say as He did many times, "I feel compassion for the multitude... (Matt 15:32 NAS)" He is God almighty yet He has compassion on a wretch like me. He rules with the power of His arm. Yet He gathers us up in that same powerful arm with gentleness and compassion. His care for us when we are young and without strength is precious.

We know Him and hear His voice (John 10:27). Sometimes He uses that power of might to get our attention when we become stubborn and hardened of heart. Other times He woos us and tends to us with His compassionate arm to gather us close when we are hurting and our hearts are broken. Someday "...the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him." He will come back to judge the world. He will also come back to gather us up in His ruling arm as His tender flock.

He gathers us up into His mighty arms and holds us close. He carries us when we are too tired to go on. He is the Creator of the universe yet He willfully surrendered that power to die on the cross. He laid down His life for the sheep. He is our Mighty God, our friend and lover of our souls. If you feel like you can't keep up with the herd then allow Him to pick you up with His power and pour on you His compassion.

Today think on the amazing love we have from God who is mighty and powerful yet as compassionate as a shepherd to us when we are like the nursing ewes. Look at how you view the God you serve and compare it with what the Bible says. Remember if you have children they will initially get there view point of God from you. His might and strength are co-existent with His mercy and compassion. Have a great and mighty week in His compassionate strength.

In His Strength,
Adam