The Father's Love

I recently had one of those moments.....those moments where in my deepest, most sincere desires, i longed to be in the physical presence of Jesus.   To be held, covered like a blanket.   To look Him in the eyes and hear Him say "I love you".   I know He is always near, always present through His spirit but there are days that i wish He could wrap His arms around me like a Father with His child.     We are physical beings, created in His image.   I believe the Lord designed relationships, in part to fill that need.   And i know one day, i will get to run into the arms of my Savior.  

   But on this day, as i sat at my desk working, I struggled with the reality that this was not possible....I found myself telling the Lord how i longed for a God sized hug.   A few moments later i happened to look into our bank account and noticed that there was an unexpected deposit from BMI.   It was payment for a song i had written that was used in a tv show a number of times last year.   I had forgotten all about it, and well...it could not have come at a better time for us.   As i sat there i heard the Lord say..."I can't physically hug you but i know your needs.   I am near.   I am closer then you know and I know your heart"   

  I wept.     I wept because He reminded me I am never alone.   I wept because He hears us when we call.   I wept because He knows our love languages.     Because in that moment of unexpected provision, it was as though He reached out and wrapped His arms around me.   Not because of the money itself, but because in that moment of a need being met, I was reminded that the Lord knows us.   He knows us in ways we can and never will know ourselves.   Better then any person we will ever know, better then and love we will ever experience.  

As children of the Creator, He knit us together.   He knows what speaks to our hearts.   What strikes the most tender and meaningful places in our being.     He knows what we need and how we need it.    And if we are paying attention....if we are in tune with the Spirit...we will see those little things he does each day that show us love.

all the things we long for, He is more.   All the things we desire from others, He is more.   God is love.   We know love because He first loved us.    And it occurred to me, God gave His son for us, to die for us, as the greatest act of love the world has ever known.   And that would have been enough.   That single act of love would have required nothing else to be the ultimate and enduring picture of love and faithfulness.    It was enough to change eternity and show us how much we matter to Him.   And yet....He did not stop with that single act.  He started with it.....and the love story will continue for the rest of your life and into eternity.   I cannot wait to see my Savior face to face, but in the meantime I am so thankful that He knows just how to show us His love each and every day.

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss -
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

He is Enough

Have you ever had a dream?   A dream deep in your heart but you give up on it out of fear or doubt, allowing it to turn into a memory?   Have you ever felt unloved?  or unloving?   Perhaps abandoned by someone close to you or mistreated by someone you thought you could trust....left to feel like a part of you is missing.  
Maybe you feel like your joy was stolen...and every effort to retrieve it has been an exhausting, fruitless process.    Maybe it's discouragement....the dream that seems to be drifting farther and farther away on the sea of uncertainty.      Perhaps it's hardship.   Financial struggles that never seem to let up, pressing on your spirit making each day a little heavier.   Or health concerns that carry with them, fear and questions.   Or perhaps, like me, anxiety gets you.   Pulls you down until you can hardly enjoy even the smallest things without the unjustified, unsettling unrest.
Maybe you have prayed...Like Paul who prayed for the thorn in his flesh to be taken away.    

Paul receives this powerful, precious and pointing answer from the Lord...
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness".
2 Corinthians 12:9

A Few days ago, I was thinking about the time right before we moved into our new home.    For months I prayed that this would be a house of peace.   That everyone who entered it would feel the presence of the Lord and be at peace here.  The Lord has answered this prayer in so many ways for so many people, I am blown away time after time; however I still struggle with anxiety.   How can this be?  How can this house be house of peace and still I feel this way?
One night while talking to the Lord about this I heard the Him say to me "I am peace even when you don't feel it".   And it struck me.....He is peace, He is love, He is Joy, He is truth, He is Hope.....period.    And that doesn't change just because I don't feel it in this moment.   My emotional state does not influence or affect God's character.   If His presence is in this house, His peace is in this house.   Maybe I am simply choosing to listen to the voice of the enemy over that of my Father.  
 He uses us, broken, wounded, weak, full of pain and fear, He uses us.   And sometimes He takes away the thorn, sometimes He uses the thorn to remind us to look to Him.   To keep our eyes on Him.
The definition of Sufficient is Enough.   He is enough.    Regardless of how we feel, what struggles we face, what weaknesses we carry.  He is enough.     I hope to start my year, this new year....looking to Him despite how I feel and trust that He is enough.  He is sufficient for us.