Safely Home

Safe At Home
Another set of headlights goes past our driveway as I stand watching at the window. The darkness outside reflects the shadow of worry threatening to rise up in my chest any moment. Why are they so late? A hundred reasons cross my mind as to why my seventeen year old daughter and six year old son are over an hour late returning from the errand they were on. None of them ease my mind. There is nothing worse than the panic of not knowing where your children are. All thoughts of punishment leave my mind as I just wish them safely home. As I pray to God to take care of my children, a thought occurs. Does God feel? I mean, does the supreme ruler of the universe have emotions? Somehow, I perceive emotions as being that fallible part of us, a weakness if you will. Can the perfect Lord, the infallible God, contain these as part of his character? Oh, I know that Jesus did. When God became flesh he contained all of the elements that make us human. Jesus wept, Jesus was angry, Jesus was compassionate, and in Gethsemane, Jesus was anxious and afraid.
But was that just the human component of Jesus? Was it the divine part? Or was it the two combined? Jesus came to bridge the divide between a perfect God and an imperfect man. He came to bring us near to God. But he also came to bring an unfathomable God into our realm of understanding. How did he show God? Through word pictures – something that would last until the end of time.
Jesus gave us God’s characteristics through parables and stories. He brought him into an arena our tiny minds could comprehend. The finite picturing the infinite. God as the good shepherd, leaving the ninety-nine sheep to seek out the one lost one and bring him safely home. God as the father, welcoming the prodigal son home with open arms. God as the disciplinarian, training his children through the parable of the talents. And most of all, we see the God of love, the God who loved us enough to die for us.
One set of headlights finally turns into our driveway. I breathe a sigh of releif and a quick prayer of thanks. As I go to open the door, I reflect again on the character of God. Yes, I do believe the Lord of Lords has emotion – I believe that he created us in His image to feel and experience all the things He has prepared for us. And I believe he understands better than any other the worry and concern I feel when my children are not safe. And, I believe He is waiting for that day when He can open Heavens doors and welcome His children home, safe at last.