Time to Run

    Do you ever have seasons in your life when a certain song just seems to dig deep inside of you and minister to your spirit? You wake up in the morning singing the song in your head, and as you’re driving somewhere you turn on the radio and “Boom!” that song is playing. For me, right now, that song is “Run to the Father” by Cody Carnes. You’ve likely heard it and probably even sung it at your church some time. Here is a link if you haven’t heard it or simply want to hear it again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcpeLDp0Foo

    The chorus goes like this: I run to the Father, I fall into grace. I'm done with the hiding
No reason to wait. My heart needs a surgeon, My soul needs a friend, So I'll run to the Father
again and again and again and again. OK, you can stop singing now. Well, maybe you can’t, but try and quiet the mental music enough to finish my blog : )

    As a father myself, I remember the joy of coming home and having my children run to me and jump into my arms as I entered the doorway. I would pick them up give them a kiss and hug and maybe swing them around. They knew they could jump in my arms and that I would catch them. They didn’t show any hesitancy or uncertainty. Honestly, sometimes I was unprepared and had to do some quick maneuvers to make sure I caught them. Today, my sons are each 6’2” so thankfully they haven’t tried that in while (though if they read this, who knows what they might do).

    I loved the total abandon and trust their leap of affection revealed. They knew I would catch them. Isn’t that what our Heavenly Father wants from us? To run and jump in His arms, fully confident He will catch us. Yet, often we begin to run but then slow to a cautious shuffle as we near Him, wondering if He’ll catch us. Maybe we even stop well before and wave, “Hi, God. Glad your there. I’m good standing here though.” We’re hesitant to run and leap with abandon, trusting He’ll catch us.

    Let’s play that approach out in my experience as a father. If my children had approached me that way, I would have been hurt. I would have wondered what was wrong. Why didn’t they trust me? Did they think I didn’t want to hold them? Anything less than that leap of faith would have hurt. Do we do that God? I don’t want God to feel like that. Yet, life experiences bring hesitancy and doubt on our journey of faith. We feel like God didn’t catch us a time or two so we’re cautious. But God’s character never changes. Our interpretation of events can be faulty, but God’s nature is perfect. He is faithful. He is trustworthy. He is our loving, Heavenly Father whose arms are able and willing to catch us and hold us when we run and leap to Him.

    I’m not sure where you are, but I need to turn my cautious walk into a run. Maybe you need to as well. Let’s run to the Father and fall into His arms of grace. It’s time to run!

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