I sit here on my front porch. It is 7 am, and I am still in my pajamas, coffee in hand, enjoying the quiet cool morning and the word of God. I like to read a chapter in Psalms and Proverbs each day. I read that it was a practice of Rev. Billy Grahams, and admiring his lifelong dedication to God, I began the same journey.
This morning as I completed Psalm 75, I turned to Proverbs. My bookmark was secured on Proverbs 24, but my reading for today should have been Proverbs 25. I must have forgotten to move the mark to the correct page, or did I? Oh, how I love watching God work!
On the opposite page from Proverbs 24 was a devotional titled “Sunshine of My Life.”
This daily devotional was about the challenges and rewards of motherhood. How poignant for this Mother’s Day morning. You see, for me, this is the first time in 30 years that I am not with my boys on Mother’s Day. It is hard as they are such a big part of me. They have been instrumental in making me the woman I have become, and I miss them so much.
As I sit here honoring and assessing my feelings and shedding a few tears, I am flooded with an understanding of how God felt about being separated from his children. It is heartbreaking when all you want to do is hold your kids tight but know that they are not within reach. Now, I can get into my car and drive 16 hours to be with my boys. God, though, had to make the ultimate sacrifice or face an eternity separated from his beloved children.
As Christians, we are taught to pursue a personal relationship with God. For years, I struggled to understand what that meant. Think of how we develop friendships, real meaningful friendships. It is by spending time getting to know one another. It is by sharing experiences.
My relationship with Jesus was highlighted today by a shared experience of two parents and the love of their children. I can wait for my boys to call me, or I can pick up the phone to hear their voices and share a moment. God, he has to wait for us to pick up the “phone” in prayer and call him. We have to start the conversation and open our hearts. He is that parent waiting for that call from a loved one that would mean the world to him.
I sit here and weep for that sacrifice, both in the heartbreak of a mother being away from her children and as a child, hurting for the love and sacrifice of a father. But yet again, God shows me his compassion and desire to comfort me by reassuring me that the time I spend in his word has taught me the sound of his voice, and the time I spend praying has shown me his heart.
God Bless.
