我們家的小咪是一隻美麗且毛絨絨的挪威森林貓。當我給牠撓肚皮、玩遊戲，或是夜晚牠在我腿上睡得香甜時，真的很難令人相信，牠就是幾年前與我們相遇的那隻流浪貓。那時牠體重不足，又害怕人靠近牠。但是在我開始每天餵牠食物以後，情況漸漸有了轉變。有一天，牠終於肯讓我拍拍牠，而後來的故事大家也都知道了。

小咪的改變讓我體會到，耐心和愛心可以帶來醫治，也令我想起以賽亞書42章所述上帝的心意。這章經文提到有一位即將到來的僕人，祂充滿上帝的靈（1節），且不辭辛勞，「憑信實將公理傳開」，直到「祂在地上設立公理」（3-4節，和合本修訂版）。

這位上帝的僕人耶穌（馬太福音12章18-20節），不是藉著暴力或追求權力來伸張上帝的公理。相反地，祂安靜又慈祥（以賽亞書42章2節），溫柔又有耐心地照顧那些被人離棄、受到傷害、被「壓傷」的人（3節）。

上帝絕不會放棄祂的兒女。祂會花時間耐心地呵護我們受傷的心靈，直到傷口最終開始癒合。透過祂那溫柔、耐心的愛，我們漸漸學會再一次去愛、再一次去相信。

When I give our beautiful, fluffy Norwegian Forest cat, Mystique, belly rubs and play with her, or when she falls asleep on my lap in the evening, it’s sometimes hard to believe that she’s the same cat we met years ago. Mystique used to live on the streets, underweight and fearful of everyone. But that gradually changed as I started putting out food for her each day. One day she finally let me pet her, and the rest is history.

Mystique’s transformation is a reminder of the healing that can come with patience and love. It reminds me of God’s heart as described in Isaiah 42. There, we’re told of a coming servant filled with His Spirit (v. 1), who would tirelessly and “in faithfulness” work to establish God’s “justice on earth” (vv. 3-4).

But that servant—Jesus (Matthew 12:18-20)—wouldn’t bring God’s justice through violence or pursuit of power. Instead, He’d be quiet and gentle (Isaiah 42:2), tenderly and patiently caring for those discarded by others—those “bruised” and wounded (v. 3).

God never gives up on His children. He has all the time in the world to care for our wounded hearts, until they finally begin to heal. Through His gentle, patient love we gradually learn to love and trust once more.