29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.³⁰ Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’

³¹ The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’

³² Jesus stopped and called them. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked.

³³ ‘Lord,’ they answered, ‘we want our sight.’

³⁴ Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. (Matthew 20: 29-34)

As I was waking up this morning I realised that I was assessing the day ahead in a fairly negative light. In particular, to the extent I considered what God thought about me this day, I envisaged him having made an assessment and analysis of the situation.

This passage shows us an emotional side to God, that is perhaps missing in my assumptions about how God reacts to me and my life. He’s not trying to catch me out. He is an emotional God. He still has compassion on those suffering, and quite possibly when he sees me unsure of what the day ahead holds, and forgetting how much he loves me and is setting me up for success, quite possibly he has compassion, rather than frustrated annoyance.

“If you have seen me you have seen the Father,” Jesus said (John 17) So they share the same attitudes. We can trust that God the Father does not have higher standards than Jesus; he too has compassion on the blind, the confused.

Tomorrow I want to wake up and remember what Jesus is actually like. He is not analysing my thoughts as I lie there, and judging me inadequate. He is not dispassionate; he is compassionate. He is still “the same God, whose nature is always to have mercy.”

Do I think one thing when I’m writing these posts and another when I’m not? In John 5 Jesus is quoted: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” 

Jesus, I’m glad you’re here by your spirit. Help me see you as you are, now and tomorrow.