4-10-2023
Today I want to share a story that was shared with me. I think this story will touch your heart, but that’s not really the goal of sharing it. I want to share it with you because, well, you need to know how much God loves you. Most of us are familiar with John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV)
We see signs along the highway. We see people holding up cardboard posters. We see t-shirts and hats with the message, “God loves you.” While the message is absolutely true, sometimes it’s easy to allow it to go by without realizing just how true it is.
Then there are those who would tell us, “As long as you’re doing good, God loves you, but if you mess up, His love is gone!” That is patently false, but some people still want to spread that untruth. So I’m sharing this story, not just so your heart will be touched, but so your heart and mind will be reminded of just how much God loves you……no matter who you are or what you do. Here is the story, written by Jessica Hurlbut, we go:
One morning, my husband discovered Mara snuggled in bed next to him with a pen in hand, scribbling all over his Bible. As he reached for the pen, Mara looked up and uttered the phrase, “Hi, Daddy.”
This would be a typical response for a three year old. But our daughter Mara is severely autistic and non-verbal. So, when those words rolled off her tongue, my husband’s eyes welled with tears. He found himself overwhelmed with emotions. He was ecstatic to hear his little girl’s voice. This moment poked a hole in the walls of the dam he had built years prior.
You know the walls I’m talking about.
The ones we build around our hearts. No one gets in and nothing comes out. The floodgates broke as he mourned the loss of the daughter he envisioned. He spoke of the pain a father feels when he doesn’t even know his own child. He complained to God how Mara lived in her own world and rarely acknowledged his presence. But that day, God interrupted Greg’s lament and spoke these words to his heart:
I know your pain. I too am a Father and oftentimes, my children fail to acknowledge my presence. Day-in-and-day-out, they repeat the same routine: Breakfast. Work. Dinner. Netflix. Bed. They too live in their own little world. A world entrenched in hobbies, sports, materialism, binge-watching sitcoms, and Instagram surfing.
I try everything imaginable to get their attention. I send people into their lives to interrupt their routines. I answer big and small prayers in hopes they will know my heart. I even went to the extreme of sending my Son, as an attempt to convey my love for them.
I don’t NEED them, but I desperately WANT them. They desperately NEED me, but don’t WANT me. My greatest desire is for them to stop what they are doing and look into my eyes. I don’t have a list of rules for them to follow or a regimented agenda for their lives.
I just want a relationship.
And I’m not mad. I don’t care how many times they have scribbled all over my story. I’m the original author of their lives and I’m crafting a beautiful tale—if they would only hand me the pen. Until then, I will patiently wait for my child to look up and utter the words that cause my heart to skip a beat…
“Hi, Daddy.”