I didn’t understand God’s heart for reconciliation like I did after becoming a mother. I couldn’t understand “come to me” until motherhood.
Growing up, I always wondered how can someone love someone so much that they forgive out of pure love and initiate reconciliation, with no punishment to follow.
I didn’t understand the story of Jonah and God’s love for the people of Ninevah. Or the story of the prodigal son and the father’s love that welcomed him back home. Or God’s constant forgiveness towards the Israelites throughout the Old Testament.
When I birthed my children, a love was born within me for my children that is beyond comprehension and beyond measurement.
When my child hurts me, my heart forgives them and yearns for reconciliation before they’ve even asked for forgiveness.
They hide from me, overcome with feelings of guilt and shame, but I tenderly say “come to me”. Eyes are dried, hearts are comforted, lessons are learned, connections are restored.
I don’t want my child to feel like there is a barrier between us. I don’t want them to silently suffer with feelings of distance between us. My heart desires to reconcile immediately.
Nothing in the world has allowed me totally and completely understand God’s love for people until I began to live the relationship. And I know that His love is even bigger than mine. How incredible is that.
Now when I struggle with feelings of failure or inadequacy in my efforts to seek, to know, and to love God… when I fail to live in a holy way… when my actions aren’t loving, I know how my Father feels towards me. I can approach Him with confidence and humility and gratitude, knowing his heart for reconciliation and knowing the magnitude of his love, because I live and experience it daily for my children.
When the distance feels enormous,
When the chasm is wide,
When you feel guilty and ashamed,
He says “come to me”.
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:8
“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” Ephesians 2:4-5
“3And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,p neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.”
Ephesians 3:18-19a
