Throughout my life, and my walk with the Lord, there have been various analogies that I have drawn about my relationship with God, and in turn they have led me into a closer relationship with Him. I remember being a teenager in high school, and my youth pastor told us that it was okay to tell God we were mad. This was a new concept. When I didn’t like the way things had gone I could just tell God? It stemmed from the lesson that God wants a relationship with me, His child. A relationship is one-sided and non-productive if we don’t communicate and have conversations. So, I began conversing with God. My conversations ranged from the good, the bad, and the shallow (I was a teenage girl I had my moments). The conversations I had with God, allowed me to draw closer to Him, and feel His presence. A song by Nichole Nordeman describes this stage in relationship with God ideally.
“When I was weak, unable to speak, still I could call you by name. And I said, heartache healer, secret keeper, be my best friend, and you said I am.”
Christ as the groom…
Being married my eyes have been opened to the marital relationship as one that is parallel to Christ’s relationship with the church. In Ephesians there is a command, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” As a church we are submit to Christ’s authority, so as a wife we are to submit to our husband’s authority, as it is God ordained. This isn’t a bad thing, or a restrictive measure. It is a glorious thing because our husbands love us as themselves! This is a whole debate on it’s own and actually not what I have been meditating on today.
God as a parent…
Mother of two and a “cub,” I would lay down my life for these kids. I have an undeniable instinct to love and protect them. I feel pain when they are suffering, a physical pain inside of me when my child is hurt, emotionally or physically. They are my babies.
When Kristyn was about 6 months old I was cleaning house and listening to a new CD I had just bought, This Mystery by Nichole Nordeman. As the song Why was playing, I stopped in my tracks. I stood in the middle of my living room, listening to the lyrics of this song. By the end of the song, I was on my knees sobbing into my lap. I cried, unable to get any words out to God, but cried to Him.
I had heard the Easter story countless times. It never felt redundant or old, I knew Jesus was killed for my sins, and because he was raised from the dead and alive, I was able to accept Him and have eternal salvation. This was not new to me. Somehow, for the first time in my life, Jesus the Son stepped aside and I saw that God was a Father.
A parent.
Like me.
He had the same instincts to love his child, protect his child, hold his child when he was hurt. And somehow, for some reason, He pushed aside those instincts and let his Son suffer…. For me… I saw my God in a new light. I had a different understanding and appreciation for the sacrifice that was made on Calvary. Jesus the Sn made a sacrifice, but so did God the Father. He watched as His son was hurt and rejected and killed. Praise His name that the story doesn’t end there. Because he lives there is eternal salvation, and Glory in heaven for someone as imperfect as me.
As my relationship with God grows, so does my understanding that He cannot be kept in a box. He is not just a “heartache healer,” or a “bridegroom,” He is the Alpha, Omega, King of kings, Lord of lords, Prince of Peace, Yaweh, I Am… Glory be to God in the Highest as we celebrate Easter.
Why by Nichole Nordeman
We rode into town the other day
Just me and my Daddy
He said I'd finally reached that age
And I could ride next to him on a horse
That of course was not quite as wide
We heard a crowd of people shouting
And so we stopped to find out why
And there was that man
That my dad said he loved
But today there was fear in his eyes
So I said "Daddy, why are they screaming?
Why are the faces of some of them beaming?
Why is He dressed in that bright purple robe?
I'll bet that crown hurts Him more than He shows
Daddy, please can't you do something?
He looks as though He's gonna cry
you said he was stronger than all of those guys
Daddy, please tell me why
Why does everyone want him to die?"
Later that day the sky grew cloudy
And Daddy said I should go inside
Somehow he knew things would get stormy
Boy was he right
But I could not keep from wondering
If there was something he had to hide
So after he left I had to find out
I was not afraid of getting lost
So I followed the crowds
To a hill where I knew men had been killed
And I heard a voice come from the cross
And it said, "Father, why are they screaming?
Why are the faces of some of them beaming?
Why are they casting their lots for My robe?
This crown of thorns hurts Me more than it shows
Father, please can't You do something?
I know that You must hear My cry
I thought I could handle the cross of this size
Father, remind Me why
Why does everyone want Me to die?
When will I understand why?"
"My precious Son, I hear them screaming
I'm watching the face of the enemy beaming
But soon I will clothe You in robes of My own
Jesus, this hurts Me much more than You know
But this dark hour I must do nothing
Though I've heard Your unbearable cry
The power in Your blood destroys all of the lies
Soon You'll see past their unmerciful eyes
Look there below, see the child
Trembling by her father's side
Now I can tell You why
She is why You must die"
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