Longing ....
My husband took the above photo of our hummingbird sitting on our patio table, but he has been spending most of the day sitting on the branch of a patio plant under his feeder. That is so unusual because it usually in for a drink and then off to his next destination.
His habits changed with the winter freezing temperatures we have been having.
He is obviously cold. Fluffing up his feathers to stay warm enough to survive.
As I watch him through the patio door - my side so warm and comfy,, his so cold - I feel so sorry for him. How I long to just open the patio door, cup him into my hand and bring him inside where it is warm. Inside where he could be safe and warm and fed.
But I know if I did, it would probably cause his death and at best he would panic in an unfamiliar environment.
My emotions are a deep longing to help him ... but I am helpless to do so. I do what I can, make sure his hummingbird feeder is well-supplied and it has a heat lamp to keep his drink from freezing. But I would do so much more!
Jesus' words came to mind. He expressed His longing to gather HIs people under His wing...and could not.
I thought about God longing for something He could not have or do and I could not imagine how much greater His longing would be than mine. His emotions being God-sized.
When I was a child I did not have the concept of my parents having an emotional feeling of hurt or disappointment when I did something wrong, or a longing for me to do something I wasn't. . Children see parents as totally self-sufficient and we have a tendency to see God in the same way.
But we have scripture where God does express His longing.
What does God long for that He cannot have or do?
In Ezekiel 37:27 we read God's desire to be in the midst of His people - to be their God and for them to be His people. We know how quickly His people turned to other gods and walked in rebellion to God. How that must have pained Him.
In a familiar passage in Jeremiah 29:11 we read, ... "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil , to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you."
Just as I knew what my little humming needed , but I couldn't give it to him because he is afraid of me, so also God knows exactly what we need but if we don't come to Him and ask ... He will not force us. He has given us free will, and He will not violate that.
There is a beautiful passage in Isaiah 30:18,19 that says, "There the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted that He may have mercy on you for the Lord is a god of justice blessed are all those who wait for him".
Now that my granddaughters are grown and have their own 'life', the oldest married expecting a baby, the younger in college with a steady boyfriend, they no longer have the time to spend with me like they used to. I knew it would be like this, it is what we wish for our grandchildren - to be happy in a fulfilled life, but that means that we 'wait' for them to have some time here and there to visit.
It's hard to imagine the Creator of the Universe - the Almighty God, longing , waiting to spend time with us, isn't it? Yet, He says it is true !
Then there is the passage I referred to above - Jesus' words in Luke 13:34. Listen to the aching longing of His heart. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!"
"Not willing!" when the God of Love desires to gather us close.
How often we have sat beside our children, grandchildren's beds and watched them sleep, for no other reason than because we loved them so much. Did you think about God sitting beside your bed as you sleep, thinking about you? Look at Psalm 139:17,18
It's hard to imagine the Creator of the Universe - the Almighty God, longing , waiting to spend time with us, isn't it? Yet, He says it is true !
Then there is the passage I referred to above - Jesus' words in Luke 13:34. Listen to the aching longing of His heart. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!"
"Not willing!" when the God of Love desires to gather us close.
How often we have sat beside our children, grandchildren's beds and watched them sleep, for no other reason than because we loved them so much. Did you think about God sitting beside your bed as you sleep, thinking about you? Look at Psalm 139:17,18
"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand, When I awake, I am still with you!"
This week when the world remembers 'love' , let us remember the Love that is greater than any earthly love - the Love that loves the unlovable because He has plans to create for them a life that brings 'peace' and 'joy' and 'glory to His name'!
