Run To The Father
As the father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. Psalm 103:13
Most parents want the best for their children. They want to see their children do well. They don't want to see any harm come to them. They don't want to see them go down the wrong road and make wrong decisions. Even when their children mess up, they love them anyhow. Yes, they make mistakes, but they realize and let their children know they're not a mistake. Mistakes are not our identity- it's a part of our story, but not who we are. When it comes to our earthly fathers, we all have different experiences. Some may know their fathers and have a good relationship or a not so good relationship. Others may not know their earthly father at all. Whatever your experience may be, I want you to know that our God is a Perfect Father who cares deeply about all of us and His arms are wide open to receive us. I want to stop here for a minute and take a look at the Bible story found in Luke 15:11-31. I want to focus on verses 11-24 in this particular post. In the story, we see a father who had 2 sons. The younger son wanted his Dad to give him his inheritance money. Now normally one doesn't get that until one has passed away. But being the loving father he was, he gave him the money (v.11-12). Then the younger son moved out of the house and went to live in a new place. He spent all of his money (as the old saying goes, The money was burning a hole in his pocket!) on wild living. Not only did he spend all his money, but then a famine came up in the land he was in! A famine occurs when there is a shortage or no food and water. He became a citizen there and got a job feeding the pigs. He got so hungry that he thought about eating the pigs' food. Now you know that was desperate! He was at a really low place in his life (can anyone relate?). While he was in that low place, he started thinking...you know I am sitting here starving and I know all the servants at my Dad's house are eating real good right now. So I'll go back and ask God and my Dad to forgive me of my wrong (v.17-18). At that point, it didn't matter if he was called a son or not; he just wanted to get home! I love what happens next. As the son gets closer, the father sees him and runs out to him. He hugs and embraces him because he's so happy to see him (v.20). The father then gets the best prepared for him and throws a party for him. It's time to celebrate (v.22-23)! Yes, the son had made mistakes and did wrong, but his father still loved him. He was happy he had turned back in the right direction. Our Father in heaven is so happy when we return to Him and go in the right direction. We all mess up. We have wrong thoughts and attitudes. We get caught up in wrong relationships and our priorities get all messed up. The beauty comes when we realize what we are doing is wrong (like when the son came to his senses) and we don't have to live like that or keep thinking a certain way. We all have struggles. Your struggles may not be my struggles, but one thing I know : God cares about them equally. He wants to help and heal us. Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit." We can run to Him in our hurt, pain, disappointment. We can run to the Father again and again (I'm so glad we can!). So glad we can! Every day, we can run to Him. He's waiting for us. And I can truly say (as some of you have found out too!) He's a Good, Good Father!
Come back next week as I will be discussing the second part of the Bible story. You don't want to miss it!!
Most parents want the best for their children. They want to see their children do well. They don't want to see any harm come to them. They don't want to see them go down the wrong road and make wrong decisions. Even when their children mess up, they love them anyhow. Yes, they make mistakes, but they realize and let their children know they're not a mistake. Mistakes are not our identity- it's a part of our story, but not who we are. When it comes to our earthly fathers, we all have different experiences. Some may know their fathers and have a good relationship or a not so good relationship. Others may not know their earthly father at all. Whatever your experience may be, I want you to know that our God is a Perfect Father who cares deeply about all of us and His arms are wide open to receive us. I want to stop here for a minute and take a look at the Bible story found in Luke 15:11-31. I want to focus on verses 11-24 in this particular post. In the story, we see a father who had 2 sons. The younger son wanted his Dad to give him his inheritance money. Now normally one doesn't get that until one has passed away. But being the loving father he was, he gave him the money (v.11-12). Then the younger son moved out of the house and went to live in a new place. He spent all of his money (as the old saying goes, The money was burning a hole in his pocket!) on wild living. Not only did he spend all his money, but then a famine came up in the land he was in! A famine occurs when there is a shortage or no food and water. He became a citizen there and got a job feeding the pigs. He got so hungry that he thought about eating the pigs' food. Now you know that was desperate! He was at a really low place in his life (can anyone relate?). While he was in that low place, he started thinking...you know I am sitting here starving and I know all the servants at my Dad's house are eating real good right now. So I'll go back and ask God and my Dad to forgive me of my wrong (v.17-18). At that point, it didn't matter if he was called a son or not; he just wanted to get home! I love what happens next. As the son gets closer, the father sees him and runs out to him. He hugs and embraces him because he's so happy to see him (v.20). The father then gets the best prepared for him and throws a party for him. It's time to celebrate (v.22-23)! Yes, the son had made mistakes and did wrong, but his father still loved him. He was happy he had turned back in the right direction. Our Father in heaven is so happy when we return to Him and go in the right direction. We all mess up. We have wrong thoughts and attitudes. We get caught up in wrong relationships and our priorities get all messed up. The beauty comes when we realize what we are doing is wrong (like when the son came to his senses) and we don't have to live like that or keep thinking a certain way. We all have struggles. Your struggles may not be my struggles, but one thing I know : God cares about them equally. He wants to help and heal us. Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit." We can run to Him in our hurt, pain, disappointment. We can run to the Father again and again (I'm so glad we can!). So glad we can! Every day, we can run to Him. He's waiting for us. And I can truly say (as some of you have found out too!) He's a Good, Good Father!
Come back next week as I will be discussing the second part of the Bible story. You don't want to miss it!!
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