The Wisdom of Tenderness so dominates the ways of God in His dealings with us. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but the wisdom of tenderness teaches us to fear Him. There is a lot of misunderstanding about what the fear of the Lord is, and as a result many believers live in a kind of sanctified terror convinced that God’s time is mostly spent scrutinizing our lives to see if any failure shows up so that He can discipline us. The fact is, our great Aslan has the ability to destroy us with one flick of His paw, and we know in light of His perfection He has every right to do just that. The fear of the Lord comes from knowing that, yet experiencing His embracing tenderness instead.
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart is turned over within Me,
All My compassions are kindled.
9 I will not execute My fierce anger;
I will not destroy Ephraim again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst,
And I will not come in wrath.
10 They will walk after the Lord,
He will roar like a lion;
Indeed He will roar
And His sons will come trembling from the west.
These verses are from Hosea 11, and they come after God declaring His anger at His people and all the things He is going to do in wrath. He is Holy, He is so other, and the most OTHER thing about Him is His great heart that chooses tenderness, when wrath is called for. God wants our love. He wants our service and obedience only as expressions of love. The Wisdom of His Tenderness wins our devotion. He is after our hearts. we are created for love. We are wired to love, and it’s tenderness, not terror, that awakens love in us. God wants to harvest our hearts and the instrument He uses to sickle our hearts is The Wisdom of Tenderness. Hear the great ROAR of His tender Lovesick heart.