Don’t Run From Him, Run To Him

I found her there, all alone.
Joy filled laughter echoed from the other room. The room she had just left.
It didn’t seem logical for a child to leave all that fun behind.
To be sitting in the dark, alone.
She was staring out the window in complete silence. I wrapped her in a blanket and asked if she was okay.
Her tiny face was so forlorn as she looked up at me and whispered~
“I miss mommy and daddy.”


My heart melted in that moment. Just like my granddaughter, how often have I felt those exact emotions. My parents are gone now. Somehow, even though I am a grandma, having my dad so close had given me a sense of security. The sweetness of childlike comfort. There are days I don’t want to do the hard stuff, I just want to be that child again.


And then I thought about Jesus.
When did we make Jesus so hard?
So complicated? When did we grow up and turn Jesus into “adulting”? When did humanity turn our Savior and Redeemer into a religion of self reliance where we constantly feel we come up short? When did we begin to believe the lie that we have to be a certain way for Him to love us? That we have to do all the “things” for Him to accept us?


Jesus Himself tells us that we need the faith of a child. Not an adult with all the adult complications and responsibilities.
A carefree child.
What is it about being a child that brings so much comfort? Perhaps the idea of knowing that our parents will take care of everything.


When we were tiny beings, we had no responsibilities. We were freely given the gift of life the moment we were born. We did not have to do one thing in order to receive that gift. As infants, our lives were completely and joyously surrendered to our parents. We didn’t have to make the hard decisions. We didn’t have to worry if our needs would be met. When we were born, we didn’t have to perform or be perfect to be loved.


We were simply loved because of who we were.


But then, things slowly began to change. One day, the innocence shifted. For one reason or another we decided to muster up our four year old courage and pack up our tiny little suitcase with our teddy bears and baby dolls, and we ran away from home. Maybe we made it to the end of our street. Maybe we hid in our backyard for a while. But soon we realized, we missed mommy and daddy and even though we were just a child, we somehow understood how very much they loved us and how much we needed them. We came home, and if we couldn’t find our way, they always found us.


But each day the “hard” took over the “carefree” a little bit more. We grew up.
We became an adult.


And now, too often as adults we are running away from God. God our Father who asks us to simply have the faith of a child. God who wants us to have joy and comfort and peace, simply because He loves us. He doesn’t ask for perfection. He doesn’t ask for performance. He asks for us. Our entire hearts. And yet, we hide. We think we have to be different, better, changed in order to come to Him. We think we have to obey all the rules to be loved. We think we have to do this life on our own.


We think we have to “adult” when it comes to Jesus.


Oh friend. Unpack your suitcase.
Jesus wants you. He wants to give you a new life. A life born into His family. Forever His child. He asks for nothing from you, because there isn’t a single thing you can physically do. Jesus did it all already. He simply wants you. With childlike faith, accept His gift of life. Let your Father make all the hard decisions. Let Him meet all your needs. Let Him love you.


Somehow we have convinced ourselves that a life with Jesus is hard. Complicated. If I’m being honest, there are times I fall into that mentality myself. Sometimes I make my relationship with Him too hard. I make life complicated in my own mind. Jesus never leaves me there though. He always finds me. He always comes through for me and I know without a doubt that I could not do this life without Him.


Do you find yourself alone, sitting in the dark, missing that childlike innocence and the comfort it brings? You may have tried everything in your quest for happiness. You can hear the echo of laughter from long ago in the background of the years you let slip away. Always running, always searching, yet never finding joy.
The joy of just being a child.


It’s time to come home.


Slip your hand into His.
Let Him wrap His love around you like a warm blanket.
Don’t lose that childlike wonder. Look up into the face that loves you.
Pour out your heart to Him and let Him take away all the “hard”.


Or maybe, simply whisper in the quiet~
I miss you.