Arms Wide Open

If we believe that God love us equally, we understand that He loves all of fellow mankind who don't quite live up to the righteousness that we, as Christians, are called to do. And we need to realize that His love also transcends time. We cannot think for a moment that He loves us any less than the Israelites He saved over & over ... delivering them countless times (often from themselves!). So those promises He made to them stand true for us still. Just as He made a covenant with them, we are in covenant with Him. When I read in Scripture of how many times they turned their back on Him, yet He never left them...never stopped loving them, I am so reassured. Now certainly, He let them get what they had coming to them often...as any good parent would in order to teach their children a lesson of value. But never once did He turn His back on them, as they did to Him.

Remember the game "I love you thiiiiiis much!" with outstretched arms? Well, that's what God does! The only thing we need to do is lose our inhibition & run into those arms that are ready to scoop us up & pull us in to the most loving, welcoming, warm embrace that permeates our very being.

We need to let let go of looking at God solely as "Father", and start viewing Him as "Daddy"... a lap we can curl up into, lay our head against His chest, and pour out our hearts to find the solace for which we're crying out. Can't you just almost hear that heartbeat...boom-boom, My grace, boom-boom, My mercy, boom-boom, My love, boom-boom, My peace?!

Now I realize that this is almost like wrapping your mind around some type of fantasy. And I know it's especially hard for those who had/have an absentee dad, or an abusive dad, or even just a disinterested dad....much like Mack in The Shack.

For me, I have such distrust of men because I have been hurt so much by those I trusted most with my innermost hopes, fears, and dreams who used those things back on me as weapons. Or those who look upon me as strictly an object of lust, not affection - even those I thought were only friends. Or those so disinterested that I begin feeling insignificant/lacking in some way. But, God has been so patient with me. He opened my heart to see that that's why I wouldn't trust Him....because He was a "he". We're working on that road to recovery. He says now, "Don't be afraid to meet men. You don't have to trust them. Just trust ME with those people I bring into your life." I'm still not there yet...admittedly, a work in progress! Truthfully...I'm content to wait!

Always...this is where I chose to be! Ah, can't you just imagine yourself here?