God has blessed my daughter Lindsey (now five-and-a-half) with a sweet, sensitive heart. The advantages of this are that she cares how others feel and is quick to notice someone who needs a kind or encouraging word. The disadvantage is that she gets easily hurt when others are unkind.
One particular day as I sat at the computer, Lindsey came back to join me with a solemn look on her face. I asked her what the matter was, and she explained that Kenny had been talking to her in some way she didn’t like (at this point, I don’t even remember what it was he said), and that things just weren’t going well between them. I swiveled in my chair so I could lift Lindsey onto my lap. “Do you need some time back here with Mommy?” I asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, snuggling against me. “’Cuz I know nothing will go wrong with you.”
I cuddled her close, infinitely thankful that her little spirit felt safe with me, that I could be a refuge for her when things weren’t going right in her world. Not that I always get it right. But apparently, by the grace of God, I get it right often enough that Mommy’s presence is a safe place for her.
You and I have a safe place too, though our safe place is different from Lindsey’s. Our safe place—in our Father’s presence—is always safe. But we don’t usually think of God as a safe place. We see Him as Someone who is concerned with our proper performance to the exclusion of caring about our spirit. But in reality, though He will indeed convict us of sin, He will no longer condemn us. Jesus has purchased our peace with Him and He freely pours out His love upon us and offers us a place to be at rest.
Wow. I know I sure need a place like that—a Person like that—and I bet you do too. We need Someone with whom we can be ourselves and still be completely safe. One of the most amazing things about God is that He Himself is that Person for us. You know how secure and loved you want your child to feel in your presence? Multiply that infinitely, and that’s how secure and loved you and I can feel in God’s presence.
Why then don’t we take Him up on His offer to be this for us? I think it’s because either we don’t fully understand what He’s offering, or we don’t fully believe He will give it to us. We just don’t grasp the immensity of His love for us. Yet the only reason we are able to love our children is because we are made in His image and therefore possess a fraction of His ability to love.
You want Someone who will comfort you when life’s not going right? You’ve got Him. You need Someone who truly understands you when nobody else does? You’ve got Him. You long for Someone who loves you infinitely, showers His love upon you, and offers you peace not just when things are going well, but always? You’ve got Him.
Crawl up into His lap this week. Better yet, do it today. Rest in His arms as you think about how much you love your children, and realize that He loves you far more. Any ideas of what you want to be for your children are mere shadows of what He is for you. So take Him up on what He offers. Receive His love and all the other benefits that come with being His child. And then, yes, extend those to your children.
Matthew 7:11—If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Romans 8:1—There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Revelation 5:9—And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”