Reaching Out

Recently my son has started reaching for things and people.  It makes my heart swell with joy and pride when he reaches for me in times he wants to share his happiness. And it causes my heart to ache with the need to hold him when he is crying, it longs to reach out and take away whatever is causing the tears. 

When I hear him crying in his crib and I see his tear streaked face pleading for me to come hold him it causes my heart pain.  As I approach I say, “Come here baby, let me hold you.”  Scooping him up he buries his head in the crook of my neck, holds on tightly and as the tears start to subside I say, “I’m sorry you’re crying, what can I do to make it better?”

 Now being a good parent I am going to reach down into his crib and pick him up weather he reaches for me or not, but how good it feels when he does reach out, trusting me in his pain.  Seeking comfort when I so long to give it.  I scoop him up and hold him tight as he cries and eventually his tears stop and a smile breaks through and for one small moment I feel Queen of the world.  His world at least, he needed me and I came through. 

These emotions make me think of how God must feel toward His children.  How His heart must burst with happiness when we reach for Him.  And how sad He must be when we refuse to reach for Him when we are hurting.  How He must long to hold us, to wipe away our tears, to comfort us when we need Him most.  And how wounded He must be when His arms are reaching for us as we reach for something else. 

I can’t begin to imagine the magnitude of God’s emotions when we cry out to Him and He holds us near.  How His heart must break when we cry and how it must sore when we make it through the battle and smile upward appreciably.

I wonder how many times He calls out, “come let Me hold you.”  

How long before we finally come?

What must He think of us when we refuse those outstretched arms for the embrace of something else?  How it must pain Him to watch us choose something that will only hurt us more, but like a good parent He allows us to make mistakes while never letting go.  His arms are always reaching down, He is always ready to pick us up when we fall, ready to go to battle for us.  There is nothing He wouldn’t do for us and nothing He hasn’t done to take our hurt away.  No limit to the times He pleads with His children to, 

"Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28

My Prayer:  Lord may we always reach up to Your waiting arms, may we always come and let You hold us.  I pray we make You feel like the King of Kings that You are both in this world and in the world to come.