…Just as my friend holds onto her son and protects him (even from HIMSELF), so too does God hold onto me and every soul to help us and protect us from ourselves.
A dear friend of mine has a child with some special needs. He is only a toddler and thank God he is a beautiful child. But one of my friend’s biggest challenges is that her little boy likes to run… Now, this may not seem like a terrible thing, but for a young mother with other children, it can be quite frightening to try to keep that child out of danger when he has no understanding or awareness of how risky his behaviour is.
The other day, when I met my friend and her children for lunch, I could see the effort it took for her to restrain that child in the carpark so that he would not run out in front of a car and get hit by a car and be injured or die. I could see the efforts she took to ensure that he would not run away in the shopping centre and get lost or stolen or scared. And I could see the effort it took for this same mother to shepherd her three other young children around that day, while constantly watching and following her beautiful running boy…
And as I watched this mother and her children, she reminded me very much of God and the way that He behaves with wayward souls…
You see, I believe that in almost every family there is at least one soul for whom the rest of the family pray. This is the person in the family who appears to be making all the wrong choices. This is the person in the family who appears to be uninterested in the importance of God. And this is the person in the family who seems to be least concerned with their eternal salvation… And for most families, this is the soul with special needs – the one who needs the most shepherding.
And that beautiful little boy reminded me of such a soul. You see, just as my friend’s beautiful son pulled away from his mother, every time she wished to restrain him, and just as he simply wanted to run and run and run, so too do the souls of those who chose to reject God. Such souls as those pull unceasingly against the hold of God, trying and trying to move away and be on their own.
But I have no fear at all for such souls as those – just as I do not fear for my friend’s beautiful son – because just as my friend holds onto her son and protects him (even from HIMSELF), so too does God hold onto me and every soul to help us and protect us from ourselves. And this is what Grace is. You see, Christ came to call sinners. We are the reason He came. And that means that God constantly provides opportunities for Grace in our lives. And just as my dear friend held onto her running son a little more firmly on that day then she held her other children, so too does God provide a little more Grace for the troubled souls…
And I have been thinking of that today as I pray for those loved ones who behave like they have no understanding of God – the ones we worry most about – because I know, with a firm fullness of faith, that those are the souls who God is holding most closely right now…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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