"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." -John 3:16
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." -John 1:12
Is it possible to be entirely lost and yet overwhelmingly rescued at the very same time?
And how do I form an adult explanation when I feel so shrinkingly sure I'm a child?
It is all a blur and the blur feels like pure joy and looks like playground spinning. Like two cheerful children, hands held tight with trusting embrace, spinning around and around. In the very same instant, they coexist; this child-like joy and unfailing trust that spring up in the spinning of life blurring by.
They circle around a center and in the center, in the bulls-eye of confusion, is joy, clarity.
"The way out of confusion is to concentrate: circle around Christ. Simplicity isn't a matter of circumstances, it's a matter of focus." - Ann Voskamp
They trust the one holding them and in these hands are safety.
I trust the only One who holds me upright in all these spinning storms and find truth; there is safety in the Savior.
At times I wonder where all these childlike analogies come from. Why are my third-year-in-college thoughts so third grade at times?
God is in the business of teaching through storms and in the spinning I'm shrinking because He knows the smaller I am, the larger He is. When I come crawling, He comforts and I calm; He swells and I shrink.
The Lord makes sense of my elementary mind when my elementary mind makes sense of the fact that He is LORD. In this moment I meditate on His very name and remember that in every way, I AM is greater than i am.
He is Father and I am child.
This alone convicts a heart that teeters toward self-centered instead of Christ-centered.
I come crawling to the Father for comfort in the storms of confusion and yet I wander in my own will the moment I lose sight of the Savior, the Son; The Son who the Father sent to pay my adoption fee. God sent His only begotten Son so that I could be purchased and redeemed and renamed as a child of the One True King.
"For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus." -Galatians 3:26
Through the greatest act of love in history, the Father sacrificed His very Son because He loves me enough to call me His daughter.
Many thoughts spin concentric circles around a central idea.
This lesson is a gift that I'm unwrapping, tearing open one verse at a time.
There isn't much I can see but I can read the gift tag, From: God, To: Gabrielle, an impression like script on my heart with promises of scripture to come.
But before the reveal comes this reminder; merely review, because my soul needs refreshing and my heart needs reminding that my very identity is found in the love of the Lord. That God didn't adopt me to hold me at a distance, but instead to draw me into an intimate relationship with Himself. I crawl to Him and I call to Him, Abba Father.
Abba Father- "Daddy".
In search of a deeper understanding of this deep love of the Father, I found this:
"In scripture there are many different names used to describe God. While all the names of God are important in many ways, the name "Abba Father" is one of the most significant names of God in understanding how He relates to people. The word Abba is an Aramaic word that would most closely be translated as "Daddy." It was a common term that young children would use to address their fathers. It signifies the close, intimate relationship of a father to his child, as well as the childlike trust that a young child puts in his "daddy."
Read more of the article here: What does it mean that God is our Abba Father?
I am reminded that He is the Parent and I am the child.
He knows what lies ahead in this marathon trial and I'm still bent low, struggling to wind the rabbit ears of shoes laces in circles to tie up my shoe souls--or my real soul?-- for the race. In circling shoe laces I'm reminding myself to circle around Christ because He is the sure and safe knot that will hold secure when my footfalls land in unsteady places.
Humbled in having to ask my Father, Abba Father, Daddy, will you tie my shoes? Will you give me strength? Will you hold my hand? Will you run with me always?
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." -Deuteronomy 31:8
I leave the start line and, with each step, I unwrap a little more of this God given gift.
The Father goes before me to show me wisdom,
just as His Son went before me to show me the way.
"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him..." -Psalm 25:14
My Abba Father lays out scripture like a cheerio-trail before me.
A verse.
and another step...
A verse.
and another step...and one cheerio of truth after the next, I eat of the wisdom of His word and my nourishment comes from the knowledge that my Father places in front of me.
He is the Leader and I am the learner. I pick up each cheerio-verse and the circles in my childlike analogies remind me to circle around Christ.
I give thanks for his never ending faithfulness to teach me and to love me and to call me His child. Each verse is another clue to my searching heart, my seeking question: Father, teach me what it means to fear You.
I'm still unwrapping but this much I know. This "Abba" intimacy between God and His children is intimately woven with understanding the fear of the Father.
He is so faithful.
His trail of scripture is never ending and I follow it in search of the secret.
"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him..." -Psalm 25:14
They circle around a center and in the center, in the bulls-eye of confusion, is joy, clarity.
"The way out of confusion is to concentrate: circle around Christ. Simplicity isn't a matter of circumstances, it's a matter of focus." - Ann Voskamp
They trust the one holding them and in these hands are safety.
I trust the only One who holds me upright in all these spinning storms and find truth; there is safety in the Savior.
At times I wonder where all these childlike analogies come from. Why are my third-year-in-college thoughts so third grade at times?
God is in the business of teaching through storms and in the spinning I'm shrinking because He knows the smaller I am, the larger He is. When I come crawling, He comforts and I calm; He swells and I shrink.
The Lord makes sense of my elementary mind when my elementary mind makes sense of the fact that He is LORD. In this moment I meditate on His very name and remember that in every way, I AM is greater than i am.
He is Father and I am child.
This alone convicts a heart that teeters toward self-centered instead of Christ-centered.
I come crawling to the Father for comfort in the storms of confusion and yet I wander in my own will the moment I lose sight of the Savior, the Son; The Son who the Father sent to pay my adoption fee. God sent His only begotten Son so that I could be purchased and redeemed and renamed as a child of the One True King.
"For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus." -Galatians 3:26
Through the greatest act of love in history, the Father sacrificed His very Son because He loves me enough to call me His daughter.
Many thoughts spin concentric circles around a central idea.
This lesson is a gift that I'm unwrapping, tearing open one verse at a time.
There isn't much I can see but I can read the gift tag, From: God, To: Gabrielle, an impression like script on my heart with promises of scripture to come.
But before the reveal comes this reminder; merely review, because my soul needs refreshing and my heart needs reminding that my very identity is found in the love of the Lord. That God didn't adopt me to hold me at a distance, but instead to draw me into an intimate relationship with Himself. I crawl to Him and I call to Him, Abba Father.
Abba Father- "Daddy".
In search of a deeper understanding of this deep love of the Father, I found this:
"In scripture there are many different names used to describe God. While all the names of God are important in many ways, the name "Abba Father" is one of the most significant names of God in understanding how He relates to people. The word Abba is an Aramaic word that would most closely be translated as "Daddy." It was a common term that young children would use to address their fathers. It signifies the close, intimate relationship of a father to his child, as well as the childlike trust that a young child puts in his "daddy."
Read more of the article here: What does it mean that God is our Abba Father?
I am reminded that He is the Parent and I am the child.
He knows what lies ahead in this marathon trial and I'm still bent low, struggling to wind the rabbit ears of shoes laces in circles to tie up my shoe souls--or my real soul?-- for the race. In circling shoe laces I'm reminding myself to circle around Christ because He is the sure and safe knot that will hold secure when my footfalls land in unsteady places.
Humbled in having to ask my Father, Abba Father, Daddy, will you tie my shoes? Will you give me strength? Will you hold my hand? Will you run with me always?
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." -Deuteronomy 31:8
I leave the start line and, with each step, I unwrap a little more of this God given gift.
The Father goes before me to show me wisdom,
just as His Son went before me to show me the way.
"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him..." -Psalm 25:14
My Abba Father lays out scripture like a cheerio-trail before me.
A verse.
and another step...
A verse.
and another step...and one cheerio of truth after the next, I eat of the wisdom of His word and my nourishment comes from the knowledge that my Father places in front of me.
He is the Leader and I am the learner. I pick up each cheerio-verse and the circles in my childlike analogies remind me to circle around Christ.
I give thanks for his never ending faithfulness to teach me and to love me and to call me His child. Each verse is another clue to my searching heart, my seeking question: Father, teach me what it means to fear You.
I'm still unwrapping but this much I know. This "Abba" intimacy between God and His children is intimately woven with understanding the fear of the Father.
He is so faithful.
His trail of scripture is never ending and I follow it in search of the secret.
"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him..." -Psalm 25:14
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