I stood at the stove, stirring a panful of hamburger, barely
able to see through the tears filling my eyes. “I just want my Erin back,” I
lamented aloud to God.
During our daughter’s senior year of high school, she pushed
all of Dick’s and my buttons, testing every limit we ever set. She deliberately
walked a path she knew was fraught with pitfalls. Dick and I prayed and
disciplined and protected to the best of our ability. I grew bone-weary of the
arguments—and I cried more times than I can count. I missed the relationship
she and I used to have. I longed with all my heart for her to simply run back
into my arms.
Thankfully, by God’s grace, that day did arrive. Our
relationship now is better than ever, due to the living faith in Jesus that we share.
Our only regrets are the miles separating us; we both look forward to those
times when we can physically hold on to one another. In the meantime, we hold
each other in prayer.
With our history in mind, when I read Isaiah 65:2, I
understood, at least on a small scale, how God must have been feeling when he
said, “All day long I have reached out to stubborn and sinful people going
their own way.” (Isaiah 65:2)
God had done everything possible to help the nation of
Israel, the people He had chosen to carry His message to the world. He had
rescued them from slavery, led them through the wilderness, provided them with
judges and kings, gave them victory over their enemies, and blessed them with
growing families, fields, and flocks. And yet they weren’t faithful to Him.
They didn’t obey His commandments, they worshiped statues and foreign gods—and then
grumbled and complained that God had abandoned them!
And yet … He still loved them, still hoped they would return
to Him … still held out His arms to welcome them back.
God’s open arms are also available for us—despite our lack of
thanks for what He has done, our disloyalty, our faithlessness, and the myriad
of other sins we have committed. Whether we have never trusted in Him, or
we have wandered away from His embrace, God is waiting for us. He
holds out welcoming, guiding, loving, forgiving arms to us, yearning with all His
heart, “I just want my child back.”
“I have blotted out,
like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I
have redeemed you.”
(Isaiah 44:22)
Be encouraged!
Pam
