Strayed?

So, the other day, while meditating, I remembered a seemingly ordinary event that occurred earlier in the day. I thought of a precious little girl I know.

It was a bright Sunday morning, one of those combined services at church; they had just arrived at church – momma and baby - and in no time, the little girl was running about, throwing smiles at anyone who cared to acknowledge her presence. Her mom had settled into a seat next to me and we carried on with service. By the time we were about to sing the first hymn, her little girl had settled back into her arms, and was so curiously flipping the pages of the hymn book with a demeanour like she was going to ‘sang’ that hymn!

Later on (still during service! 😀), I spoke with her mom. We had seen her little girl copy our actions during the prayer session, and so, I teased her about it. She began gushing excitedly about her baby’s progress: how her little girl now stands on her own, and tries to feed herself unassisted and mimics adults when she sees them praying and all (then I remembered the first hymn in the service and smiled).

Thinking now about the parents I know, mothers and fathers alike, it’s the same way they talk about their growing children. The enthusiasm, the thrill; so profound you can literally touch the joy they feel! 

Then it came to me! This is how God must feel when we’re growing in Him. As His children, when we start to grow, our Heavenly Father must gush with delight about us as well. You know, when we gradually (purposely) start to read and understand the Word, or how we long to spend time with Him in prayer, start to speak in tongues, when we get the courage to share Him and His love to others, when we boldly resist temptation, when we learn to tell His voice apart from all the other (sometimes crazy) voices in our head…even the seemingly irrelevant things you know, the deep “Thank You Lord” sigh when things aren’t going our way! I just imagined Him saying to the angels, “That’s my big girl!” It’s endless! How proud we must make Him when we consciously and consistently grow in Him! The beautiful thing is He’s there (He’ll always be!), helping us along, guiding and guarding so we don’t slip and fall and hurt ourselves (or even rip our own lives apart, much like a child would rip up a bank note or a book in curiosity or excitement without necessarily considering the consequences at the time).

But then, unfortunately, we all are still human; simple ol’ man that will fall every now and then. Much like the way a child would still run on wet floor or tug on the extension box plugged to a socket, we still do things which are wrong and harmful to us, knowingly or unknowingly. 

He hurts when we ignore His counsel and get ourselves hurt. I can just imagine Him cringe the moment we do bad.

• God is so very merciful! The moment we realise we've done wrong by Him and repentantly return, He willingly takes us back into His arms and restores us into His will.

Much like when a child falls (say, after being warned not to run on wet floor) and goes back to his parents or a familiar adult for succour, if we’d be humble enough to return to Him, He’ll console and help us back to our ‘feet’. Never have I seen a loving parent reject a hurting child - disciplining, yes but never rejecting!
Discipline as we know could come in different forms. I’m sure if we’ll search within ourselves just a little, we’d remember how our parents have disciplined us in different ways in times past. From the ‘I told you so’ look or talk to the scolding, to the strong taps on the butt with whatever is in sight (LOL!). Our heavenly Father does too, using various ways and means for correction.

• Scolding or Disciplining (even while in pain or discomfort) doesn’t equal hate.

The bible says in Proverbs 3:12 and Hebrews 12:5b-6 that it’s only the child our Heavenly Father loves that He disciplines; and if we think slightly deeper, if our parents let us do or get away with every single thing we didn’t do right, it would probably have just been a set up for destruction.

What I think many people fear is the harshness of correction but then, if we take to correction (which in itself is humility), we’ll learn and grow from the experience. He is always ready to be our God again; our precious Heavenly Father.

I know some people think that if He loves us so much, why does He let us do some things that could harm us at the end of the day?

Well, there is Free Will which He gave to us (a topic for another day), but essentially He lets us do certain things so we can learn from the experience. Remember when you were a child and mom will scream her head off telling you to get away from a lit candle, lantern or cooker (or in my case, the pot on the burner of the cooker)? Do you recall what happened when you thought it was a bright idea to go ahead feel what it was like? Well, for me, let’s just say pots on cookers became uninteresting to me. It cost me a blistered palm but then, I was wiser for it! (and mom didn’t even have to utter a word! She did nurse my wound though…sweet mom! 😃).

If you think back sincerely, I’m sure you’d remember a time where you got into a fix and called upon God to help you out, and He indeed reached out to get you out or reassured you that He was right there, walking with you through it all . I know He has for me…countlessly! But, I had to ask Him first! He will take you back. All you need to do is humble yourself and ask for help. Ask Him to restore you into His arms where it’s safe! You have to reconnect.

No past is too messed up for God, and nobody is worthless to Him (1 Corinthians 7:23). He is so full of mercy, grace, and the amazing thing is He’s utterly in love with us (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). All you just need to do is humble yourself and go back to God through Jesus Christ.

You’re not too broken for God! Take the pieces back to your heavenly Father. He is more than able and willing to give you a new, better start…a new better life! (Romans 5:9-11).

It is only when we’re completely in His will that we can live a full life, free of worries, knowing that our Heavenly Father is for us. He is constant in this ever changing world we’re in. Let God be the centre of your life and tap into His fullness.

If only we understood all the things we’re entitled to as His own!

Prayer:

Dear God, I do not take for granted You; Your sacrifice for me, Your Mercy, Your Grace or Your Love. I know I might have in the past and I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you for loving me in my ignorance. Heavenly Father, give me a new love for You, that I may obey You will all of myself as a show of my love for you. Help me to live this life for You because I know I am not my own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Thank you for Your enabling grace and thank You for restoring me back to you. I love you sweet Lord, in Jesus name. Amen.