She was standing in between the end table and I. On the end table was the baby monitor. On her other side was me with arms wide open. I had already told her firmly not to touch the baby monitor. I had even redirected her attention and tried to help her focus elsewhere, on me. So there I was kneeling beside her, saying her name, holding my arms open ready for an embrace...and she stood frozen rotating her gaze between the baby monitor and me every few seconds. She was Eve and there was a tree and there were apples and I never seen clearer evidence of the unseen tempter that exists to all human beings no matter their innocence or age. And then it hit me. Exactly how God feels...every single day with every single last one of us. Because He...He is the loving, safe parent who stands beckoning us with open arms yearning for this connection He's freely offering while drawing wise boundaries for us to live by. And we are little children standing there acting like there is a decision to be made. I could have saved her from making the wrong choice which she in the end did, but instead I allowed her to make the choice herself as an opportunity to learn. Because I wanted ultimately her to learn to know my voice, to listen to it, and to trust it. God is doing the same with you and I. If we will slow to hear His instruction, notice His open arms, and pop our puffed up self and stop believing we know any better way... Then and only then will we know the freedom and joy of connecting with a perfect heavenly parent who makes good out of all things surrendered to Him.
" I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be courageous and let your heart be strong. Wait for the Lord .” –Psalm 27:13-14 I hadn't noticed until now that brave and strong is part of waiting. Because running and explaining and indulging and figuring out is so much a part of our world. I forgot that wait is a verb, not a space-filler, not a time-waster. In the waiting, we are learning our hope. In the waiting, we become His; we come alive. In the waiting, we build the pages upon which He will write the story. In the waiting, the story has already begun. Right now, my waiting is the story. How silly for me to think that brave and strong was only for empire-building and battle-fighting. I’ve been having strong moments and really weak ones. Because even though I’ve set up my circumstances for rest and family and connection right now, wherever I go, I can still find the dr...
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