Tonight as my daughter Lydia was going to bed she came running to me with this look of pain on her face. She had bumped her head. I did the usual dad thing of hugging her and "kissing the owie" to make her feel better. She then ran off to bed. That moment made me realize how much compassion I feel for my children. When they hurt, I hurt.
I also thought about earlier that night we went out to eat as a family. I felt so much joy eating with my kids. Something about just being with them and reaching over and hugging them while we ate brought so much joy to my heart. Lydia looked at me and said, "Dad this was an awesome meal."
As a father when my children hurt, I hurt and when they experience joy, so do I. Being a father has revealed so much to me about my relationship with God. I just read in 2 Corinthians 6 (the Message) "I'll live in them, move into them; I'll be their God and they'll be my people." Although I love that part, it doesn't surprise me for some reason. I have become very comfortable with God being my God. What I read next did surprise me. "I'll be a Father to you; you'll be sons and daughters to me." I know the concept of God being my father shouldn't surprise me, but as I think about how much I love my kids and how close they are to my heart, being that close to God is refreshingly shocking!
I began to think about how much God's heart must hurt because of the pain his children experience. We sometimes have this false idea of God that he is far off watching from a distance, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Other verses say things such as "I will walk among them" and "I will make my home among them."
God the father has always desired to "walk among us." He did this unhindered by sin in the garden of Eden and will do it again in heaven. Because of sin we lost this connection with God, but God forever re-established it through Jesus Christ. God the son literally did walk among us and made his home among us.
I have heard it preached so many times that "when we hurt, God hurts." It almost sounds cliché to say it. Being a Father is a daily reminder of this profound truth. We really are that close to our heavenly Father's heart. He does hurt when we hurt. He experiences joy when we experience joy. I find this kind of love and connection with the Creator of the universe refreshingly shocking!
In light of this truth, I want to stay close to the Father's heart. I want to love the things he loves. I want to hate the things he hates. As Paul says "I don't want to squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."
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