I love the way the Bible describes God. It uses words that are generous, expansive and wonderfully surprising.
One of my favourites is found in Romans 2:4 where the apostle Paul speaks about ‘the riches of his kindness’ (NIV).
What a beautiful phrase. God is rich in kindness. Not occasional kindness. Not reluctant kindness. Riches of kindness.
To be rich is to have an abundance – more than enough; enough to give generously. God’s kindness is not loose change; it is one of heaven’s great riches.
And perhaps one of the most life-changing discoveries we can ever make is this: God is kinder than we imagined.
Kindness Has a Face
Kindness is more than being nice.
Kindness notices.
Kindness listens.
Kindness stops.
Kindness stoops.
Kindness gives.
And if you want to see the kindness of God, look at Jesus. Look at the people he noticed: the lonely, the grieving, the guilty, the sick, the excluded.
People others walked past, Jesus walked towards.
People others labelled, Jesus loved.
People others had given up on, Jesus gave hope to.
The Bible says, ‘When God our Saviour revealed his kindness and love, he saved us’ (Titus 3:4-5 NLT).
Jesus is the kindness of God with a human face.
Rich in Kindness
Paul doesn’t simply say that God is kind. He speaks of the riches of his kindness. God’s kindness is not rationed. You cannot arrive one morning to discover that heaven has run out. The Bible says, ‘His mercies begin afresh each morning’ (Lamentations 3:23 NLT). Every morning arrives carrying fresh mercy. Yesterday may have emptied you, but it did not empty God. Your need may be great, but his resources are greater. You may be running on empty. God isn’t. There is always more kindness in God than there is need in us.
Breakfast at Ashley Down
One of my favourite stories of God’s kindness comes from George Müller. In nineteenth-century Bristol, Müller cared for thousands of orphaned children, trusting God to provide for their needs.
One morning there was no food for breakfast. The children gathered around the tables but the plates were empty. Yet Müller prayed and thanked God for the food he trusted God would provide.
Then came a knock. A baker explained that he had been unable to sleep because he felt Müller would need bread that morning. So he had risen early and baked for the children.
Then came another knock. A milkman’s cart had broken down outside. Rather than let the milk spoil while it was repaired, he offered it to the children.
Bread. Milk. Breakfast. Kindness.
Sometimes the riches of God’s kindness arrive disguised as ordinary things – a sleepless baker and a broken milk cart. God’s kindness frequently has human fingerprints on it.
The Silver Thread
Charles Spurgeon once described the kindness of God running through his life ‘like a silver thread’. Perhaps, when we look back, we can see that silver thread too. The person who appeared at just the right moment. The conversation we needed. The door that unexpectedly opened. The friend who stayed. The strength that somehow came. The grace that carried us through something we thought would overwhelm us.
At the time, we may not recognise the pattern. Looking back, we sometimes see the thread. You may lose sight of the silver thread, but God never stops weaving it.
Kindness When Life Hurts
There are seasons when God’s kindness is harder to see. Hospital rooms. Empty chairs. Broken relationships. Unanswered questions. Days when life simply hurts.
Christian faith never asks us to pretend otherwise. Jesus wept. Jesus grieved. Jesus knew suffering. God’s kindness does not mean every chapter will be easy. It means God will be faithful in every chapter.
Sometimes his kindness changes our circumstances.
Sometimes his kindness carries us through them.
Sometimes God calms the storm.
Sometimes he holds us in the storm.
Either way, we are held.
God’s kindness is not the promise of a trouble-free life; it is the promise that we never face life alone.
The Greatest Kindness
Ultimately, the riches of God’s kindness are revealed in Jesus. The manger tells us God came near. The cross tells us how far his kindness was prepared to go.
Jesus takes our sin and offers forgiveness; our guilt and offers grace; our brokenness and offers restoration.
The cross is kindness at its most costly. God did not merely send instructions from heaven, he came himself. At the cross, God’s kindness cost us nothing but cost him everything.
Grace is God giving us what we could never earn.
Kindness is grace reaching out its hand.
Kindness Leads Us Home
Romans 2:4 tells us that God’s kindness is intended to lead us to repentance. Notice the word ‘lead’. God doesn’t bully us towards himself. He draws us.
Repentance means turning around – changing direction and turning towards God. His kindness says, ‘There is a better way. Come home.’
God’s kindness is not permission to remain as we are; it is an invitation to become who we were made to be. It leads us towards forgiveness, freedom and a new beginning. It leads us to Jesus.
Riches for You
Perhaps today you simply need to hear those words again: ‘The riches of his kindness.’
Riches of mercy for your mistakes.
Riches of strength for your weakness.
Riches of comfort for your sorrow.
Riches of grace for your guilt.
Riches of hope for your tomorrow.
You may have reached the end of your resources, but you have not reached the end of God’s. So come to him as you are – with your questions, disappointments, failures and hopes.
And look for the silver thread.
You may discover that the kindness of God has been nearer than you realised, deeper than you imagined and more generous than you dreamed.
God is rich in kindness. He has never suffered a shortage and he never will.
And the greatest evidence of those riches is Jesus – God’s kindness reaching all the way to us.
The riches of his kindness are not merely something to admire. They are ours to receive.
J.John
