so i gave you my sob story about teething and we looked at how our Father feels when we are hurting. (for those who are wondering…molly is back to normal and doing great…she loves to grind those teeth!!!) but today i want to take a look at the Father’s heart from another angle.
it’s been awesome to see molly grow, eat new things, learn new things, become more mobile…you get the picture. she has been rolling all over the living room in the last couple of weeks. she is getting quite good at getting her skinny body to head in the direction she wants to go… and she occasionally takes a little break and raises up on her hands to make sure she is progressing towards the desired destination, making the needed adjustments… but in the last week she has developed the ability to roll where she wants to go and then sit up all on her own. the first time i saw her do it, it kind of threw me off a little and then she did it again… i was so excited! i ran back to the bedroom and told kasey what she had done. for the first couple days, i would cheer her on each time she tried to sit up… like that was going to help in some way? now she does it all the time like it’s no big deal, and we yell “yeah molly.” to which she claps for herself with a big smile… new teeth, drool, the whole bit!
this was a major accomplishment for my nine month old daughter! and i’m not ashamed to say that i was pumped for her! she had worked so hard, fallen a couple of times and knocked her head on the furniture…but it was all part of the task that she has now mastered.
so i sat there and thought about the Father’s heart…
there are so many things that i have tried to accomplish in life… i’ve fallen down and knocked more than my head… it’s taken me more than a couple weeks to get the hang of it… but finally i have gotten to the point in my life where i have gotten a hold on things in my life. is God just as pumped about that, as i was about molly sitting up? why wouldn’t He be? He’s my Father!
i really look at my prayer life and the many times that i’ve tried to improve it… i’ve tried different tools to help me out, like prayer models in Scripture or reading through things… and finally it seems that i have a handle on it. i have a set time each day that i do my prayer time… i have a journal to write out my prayers… and a prayer card that reminds me of who or what i need to pray for each day. my conversation with my Father has become a priority in my life and is something i look forward to each day. it’s an encouragement to me, to be able to e-mail friends and let them know that i have prayed for them and that i care about them.
don’t get me wrong… i have not arrived by any stretch… but i definitely feel that this has been a great achievement for me… and at the same time i can’t help but thing that God is in heaven and pumped when one of His children get a grasp on something like prayer…
maybe it’s not prayer… maybe it getting over an addiction… maybe it reading God’s Word every day… maybe it’s not stretching the truth or gossiping… maybe it’s reaching out to a friend that doesn’t know God… i don’t know, but when we are able to overcome or achieve things in life, i have to think that God is pumped and yelling “YEAH …” from heaven.
the reason i think this… luke 15… and specifically vs. 3-10
3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (NLT)
i know that when i decided to turn my life over to God and to accept Christ as my personal Savior… my Father was pumped.
it brought great joy to the Father’s heart!!!
i am confident that He has that same reaction each time we take a new step in our faith…
it brings great joy to the Father’s heart!!!
