Thursday, August 12
God is love, and those who live in love live in God: and God lives in them.
—1 John 4:16
For a child, there's nothing like the feeling of complete exhaustion after a hard day of play. Remember it? The sore legs, the aching ankles, the feeling of hunger in the belly? And that strange shortness of breath from running and playing so hard that the diaphragm itself is actually tired. What a feeling!
Yet I also remember the feeling of resting in my mother's arms, and I recall that memory with great detail. The boniness of her shoulder, the red woolen sweater complete with monogram that she wore so often, the smell of her perfume, and of course, the feeling of loving arms wrapped around me, as if to say, nothing can hurt you, nothing can tire you, just rest here where you are loved.
What would our lives look like if we could feel the loving arms of God wrapped tightly around us signifying those same things? What would we do in our boardrooms, offices, classrooms, and homes? Would our attitude be different, more loving? Would we be able to translate the love of our Creator into a model for life —something so wonderfully graceful?
Truth is, the arms of God are present to us in all the parents, friends, and companions along the way. If our parents didn't or couldn't hold us and care for us, there have been other parents on the journey. Or friends who know us so well that they recognize that we are in pain before we speak of it.
Taking the time to share in the companionships of life is essential to knowing the love of God. Falling into the arms of another, sharing who we are, and letting that person see us completely reveals the holiness of relationship.
Ultimately, these relationships are a means for God's grace and mercy, and in them we fall into the incarnate arms of God as we feel his sons' and daughters' loving arms wrapped around us.
Next time you are in the arms of another, take the time to reflect on God's love. Let the child of God you are fall into the arms of your loving creator. Let God love you.
Loving God, let me feel your love in the relationships of my life. Help me to feel and experience your grace and mercy in the loving arms of others whose very life is your life and whose love is your love.
These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2006.
