When God Runs

My relationship with my dad was complicated. I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m such a sap for good daddy stories.

And I’m a tad obsessed with Billy Graham. His humility and simplicity. His love for Jesus and people. Though he’s with his Savior now, Graham’s  messages are evergreen and never stray from the path to real, abundant life: Jesus. Always Jesus.

Yes, I’m smitten. Now, even more as I hear his childrens’ stories.

Billy’s daughter, Ruth, tells about a time in her life after a messy divorce. She dated a man her children didn’t like and her parent’s cautioned her to slow down. Describing herself as “stubborn, willful, and sinful,” she ignored their advice and married him. She realized her mistake right away. She left three weeks later because she was afraid of him.

On her two-day drive to her parents’ home, she wondered how to tell her father. Can you imagine how shame probably harassed her?

What a failure. You’re an embarrassment. Tsk-tsk-tsk … what a disappointment.

Rounding the corner to her parents’ driveway, Ruth saw her famous father waiting on the porch. A bit reluctant, she paused then stepped out of the car. Her daddy met her there and wrapped his arms tight around her.

“Welcome home.”

No lecture. No shame, blame, or condemnation.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells us in a parable that God runs to us with wide-open arms, with compassion and celebration plans, especially when we return from being “stubborn, willful, and sinful.”

Yep, I’ve been there.

Nothing can separate us from this relentless love. Some even call it reckless. Because it seems risky to lavish love like that on us fickle, prideful people. But the Father’s Love shows us we’re treasured and valued beyond human measure.

We are worth pursuing. Every single time. No matter what.

When’s the last time you really thought about this unconditional love that doesn’t give up on you? It shows up always and it won’t run away ~ it runs to you, remember?

Like a good father, God corrects us but He doesn’t condemn us or push us away. The character defects of our earthly father do not exist in our Heavenly Father. 

So, let’s focus on that. Understanding God’s love. It’s a bit like going to a waterfall to fill a teacup. There’s just so much. We’ll spend a lifetime learning it and experiencing it so let’s just dive in.

Tell God you want to experience this love that has no limits. Read the Gospels, beginning with the book of John and get to know Jesus. How He loves people is how the Father does too.  Ask God to reveal it to you ~ then let love trickle from your head to your heart.

God is patient. And He is so pleased when we return to Him.

No lecture. No shame, blame, or condemnation. He is our good Father.

I know Billy Graham wasn’t a perfect human or a perfect father. But that day in the driveway, he met his child right where she was. He welcomed her, mess and all.

And Ruth Graham saw what her daddy spent his life telling the world: “My father was not God, but he showed me what God was like … When we come to God with our sin, our brokenness, our failure, our pain, and our hurt, God says, ‘Welcome home.'”

My friend, our Father not only waits for our return, He runs to us and meets us right in the middle of our messes and distresses.  Let’s soak in this forgiveness and unconditional love💗

 “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand … how wide, how long, how high, how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” ~ Ephesians 3:18-19