A Father's Embrace

Yesterday when I was heading to church, I drove pass a father with his little toddler in front of a house. The father and his son were playing when the mother approached from a distance. The little boy looked up, saw his mother in the distance, dropped what he was doing and ran toward her. The mother kneeled down, open her arms toward the boy, and he ran into her arm. It was such a simple scene, and it's a scene I've seen many many times. But for some reason, yesterday, I was mesmerized by it. Both the look on the mother's face and the toddler's face captivated me. As I drove to church, I pondered why this scene tugged my heart ever so gently, yet so powerfully.

One of the worship songs we sang at church that day was a song called "Forever Reign". Part of the lyrics goes like this:

Oh, I'm running to your arms,
I'm running to arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go

Tear streamed down my face as I sang this song, and I realized why the scene in the morning captured me. Like the mother waiting for her child to run into her arm, our Heavenly Father's arms are wide open waiting to embrace us. Our Father is always waiting for us with open arms, but a lot of times, we are the ones that are preventing ourselves from running to Him. Maybe it's because we are scared, or because we are ashamed, or because we are lost, regardless of the reasons, our Father is waiting patiently.

Remember when we were little, how safe and comfortable we felt in our parent's arm? As we get older and older, we are taught to be independent, and it's less and less appropriate for us to seek comfort in other's arms, even if they are our parents. We go on each day trying to solve our own problems, fight our own fights, find our own ways... But sometimes, all we really need is a pair of arms to hold us tight. Sometimes we need a pair of arms to rely on. Yesterday, I was reminded of the Father who is always there for me with open arms.

We all know the story of the prodigal son. It's a story about a son taking his inheritance and left his father. The son went somewhere and spent all his inheritance. When he was hungry and tired, he remembered how easy life was at home and he came back home (Luke 15:11-22). Then the Father not only took him back, but he had a celebration for the returning of his son. My favorite part of the story is this:

"But while he [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." (Luke 15:20)

Like this father, our Heavenly Father is also just waiting for us to come back to Him. He too is waiting to wrap His arms around us. He doesn't care aobut the mistakes we've made or the weight we carry on our shoulders. He is just waiting for us to come to him. Like a child finding peace and comfort in a parent's arms, may we find peace and rest in His arms.

Hillsong - Forever Reign