The Womb of Compassion

Blazing forests and ash-filled rubble paraded on each news headline. It was in the winter of 2017. This disaster was the worst of its kind our country has ever seen. Knysna and its surroundings was devastated by the scorching flames that unquenchably ravaged through it\’s villages. Multitudes were left homeless. Families lost their belongings. Blankies of littles were scorched into blackness. Yet hope grew stronger as the compassion of a nation was stirred up to be hands and feet. Courier companies opened their doors wide as the hearts of the people were opened even wider. Parcels of food, clothing and other essentials were stacked in heaps and bundles at the couriers. Out of this compassion something beautiful was born.

There is a term in Hebrew used for both womb and compassion (רָחַם pronounced rachem). I find that strikingly relevant. In most of the records of the walk of Yeshua, our Saviour, our Messiah, it is stated time and again how He had compassion on the people. What happened numerous times was the following;

Yeshua went out, and He saw a great multitude. He had compassion on them, and healed their sick.

Matthew 14:14 WEB

From within the womb of His compassion and mercy miracles were born. This is true even for this day and hour. Miracles take root, grow and become fully nourished within the womb of compassion. From within our innermost beings, waters of living water flow; watering the parched ground. In Hosea we see him reprimanding the people to break up the fallow ground and to reap in mercy. Seeking Yah all the while and waiting expectantly for the rain of righteousness to rain down on this dry and weary ground. Where do we plow? What do we sow within the soil of our beings? There where we find a fountain of life within; that which can be seen as a womb. (Don\’t you find it fascinating that in reality a womb is filled with water, called amniotic fluid, in order for a little person to grow there in. Amniotic fluid has many important functions and is vital for healthy fetal development.) Is this fountain within us a place where nourishment can be found? Where compassion and mercy can grow and mature so that righteousness can be reaped and miracles can be born? All for the glory of our King. To draw the broken-hearted, those crushed in spirit back to Him, with bonds of love like an umbilical cord, feeding those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Exodus 34:6-7

6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “Yahweh, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

If we long for, if we seek Him, we will find Him. Oh, beloved, let us seek Him while He is near. Let us call upon Him, while He is still to be found. May the fruit of our compassion wombs become like a tree of life, bearing much fruit. The branches being filled with good fruit that stirs up a longing within the people we surround ourselves with. May miracles be born as we tap into this place of compassion.

For can a woman forget her child? Having no compassion upon the baby within? Surely, it is possible for this to happen. But Yahweh being filled with compassion and lovingkindness will never forget us. His compassion cannot fail. Like morning that breaks day by day, His compassion is new every sunrise. He knows the end, that which will be birthed, from the beginning, from the very place of conception. It is not hidden from Him when it took place in the darkened, secret place. His plans cannot fail. His Words will not return void. It will set sail, and do exactly what He purposed it to do.

There is a place

A compassion room

Within our beings

Similar to that of a womb

A place of nurturing

Sometimes marked with suffering

His everlasting arms that carefully carries

Like a place where seeds are buried

Waiting with expectation

With all hope

With all patience

For light to burst forth

like the break of day

A seed to sprout

From muddy miry clay.

Encompass my heart

with Your compassion

For those who need Your favour

Aren\’t we all in need for a Saviour?

For all have sinned and fallen short

So be careful not to let pride distort

Your gaze

On the subject of grace

A compass so true

Is His Spirit within you

Directing you to where you should go

Equipping you to better know

The Words spoken by our King

Coming alive with His understanding

His Word being a map for every venture

Living in His paths for His pleasure

He might send us into the unknown

But He doesn\’t send us on this journey alone

Having a Companion and Comforter

He is our wonderful Counsellor

Not abandoning those He calls dear

Those having eyes to see and ears to hear

We might grow weary on this road\’s length

But this I know,

it\’s Your JOY

that gives us strength!

Though we pass through fire and river streams

It is only You who redeems.

May all Your purposes be fulfilled

as we give birth Your good and perfect will

Navigate us to not go astray

Guide us with grace

And with compassion to Your gates

Filled with gladness on this narrow way!

Micah 7:18‭-‬19

Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving kindness. He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

While I was pondering on all these ideas about the womb, compassion and birth, the Spirit lead me to Isaiah 46:

3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb: 4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Our dear brother and sister in Messiah, Rion and Sarah van Vuuren, is in the midst of launching their new album. The Scripture that Abba gave them is Isaiah 46. He knows the end from the beginning. From within the womb of His heart, He establishes plans and will bring it to pass. Because He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. He cannot go against His own character. He carries us.

The following words are from Sarah\’s pen:

Abba\’s Word is a comfort and a shield in times of hardship. His Word uplifts and brings light and life. I had been crying out to Abba when I found myself at the end of a season, and He gave me Isaiah 46 as a deep encouragement. As you know, the whole theme of this album is the fact that Abba is the One who carries us. It is His promise to us and we can clearly see this promise in Isaiah 46…

“Listen to Me,” [says the Lord], “O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been carried by Me from your birth and have been carried [in My arms] from the womb , 4 Even to your old age I am He, And even to your advanced old age I will carry you! I have made you, and I will carry you; Be assured I will carry you and I will save you. 5 “To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we may be alike? “Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past; For I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, And from ancient times the things which have not [yet] been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will do all that pleases Me and fulfill My purpose,’ 11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, From a far country, the man (Cyrus) of My purpose. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, be assured I will do it.

We serve a covenant keeping God who will carry us through everything, every season, every beginning and every end. He knows the beginning of everything and He knows the end of everything. Beginnings can be exciting while the end of something can spark fear, because \’what comes next\’? Sometimes we don\’t know what the next chapter looks like and we struggle to see His purpose here and now. God however, is there, at the end with us, He knows all about endings and He is the One who carries us through them, because in Him there is always a new beginning, a hopeful future. He has a plan and a purpose and He will accomplish it in the lives of those who trust Him.

Job 14:7-9

“For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And that its tender shoots will not cease. Though its root may grow old in the earth, And its stump may die in the ground, Yet at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant.\”

This song is for that moment when the enemy tells you, it\’s over, you\’ve reached the end… We can rebuke him confidently knowing that even though we can be cut down like a tree and things can look pretty \’dead\’… God can make things bloom again, He can make YOU bloom again because He is carrying you. Meditate on this Scripture for a while… Think about what He is saying. We have never had to carry Him, yet He has always carried us, from the womb even to our old age, He cares for us. He is constantly present, He doesn\’t move, He doesn\’t change although we go through beginnings and we face ends, He knows it all and still His purpose stands. He is God and there is no one like Him!

If you are in a desert, be assured, the God who carries you, will make your desert bloom again. If you are in a cold winter, be assured, spring will come again, there will be growth, there will be good harvests because you belong to Him, He will care for you because that is who He is, our Caregiver!

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May you be deeply reminded that Yah is not done with His plans. May His compassion fill your very being and may miracles be born from this place that He cultivates. Surely, we may be forgotten by people, looked over and cast away, but Yahweh, our Abba, will never forget us. His compassion is new day by day.

In Him we live

And move

And have our being

Shalom

Carmen Tehillah