Lent Day 6: I Want To Hold Your Hand

The Lord looks down in love, 

bending over heaven’s balcony, 

looking over all of Adam’s sons and daughters.

He’s looking to see if there is anyone who acts wisely,

any who are searching for God and wanting to please him…Psalm 14:2 TPT

My dad was 42 when I was born. Unfortunately, he passed away when I was only 21. He had his first heart attack the year I was born. He had another my senior year of high school and  survived heart failure during a gallbladder surgery my freshman year of college. His heart gave out for good this side of heaven in May of 1991, the end of my junior year at Vanderbilt. He was on a fishing trip with his oldest buddies in Bimini, when they found him in his bunk; he had a grin on his face and his temporary tent was finally exchanged for his eternal home.

I was a daddy’s girl.  I still am a Daddy’s girl. Theologically, I don’t know if this is true, but I picture my earthly father bending over heaven’s balcony alongside my Heavenly Father, not looking to catch me in the act of something bad, but anticipating a glimpse of a daughter caught in the act of kindness, generosity, or compassion.  I see them beaming at the possibility of spying on private prayer, public service or humble gratitude, not because I am good but because my Creator ROCKS! We have a God quick to see the best in us because HE put it there when HE made us in HIS image.

I use my imagination, eavesdropping as my father and Father whisper,

“What do you think she will do next? I read her heart like MY very own thoughts and I know she is seeking ME and really wants to make ME smile. Fletcher, what a good one I gave you, because you know I don’t make mistakes or messes:) She wears our names well.  She is radiant because she wears the robes of My Son, Jesus.  If she only knew how we see her, if she could only hear our conversations celebrating her surrender then she would breath a sigh of relief, resting more fully in the finished work of the Cross. She is listening, growing and becoming.  Fletcher, continue to watch your baby girl’s story.  I made her for such a time as this.  I am her Map and personal Guide along the way. The little toe-head who gripped your finger all of the 21 years you had her is still putting her little hand in the palm of a Father. You taught her to trust well and you gave her a beautiful example of what a good, good father looks like. When you disciplined your daughter, you showed her that your hand was firm, but gentle, pulling her out of traffic and keeping her from hidden holes.  Well done Fletcher, my good and faithful servant. “

Take some time this Lenten season, to imagine your Heavenly Father bragging on you as HE bends over that balcony. The picture I painted above is just one of many conversations the Holy Spirit has washed over me. Even if you did not have an earthly example of a loving Father, you can still choose to imagine a glory gab session where your Heavenly Father speaks words of life over you, where HE calls out your potential and reminds you that you are a royal princess, fearfully and wonderfully made, an oak of righteousness, the temple of the Holy Spirit, chosen, called, equipped, empowered and loved more than you could ever dream or imagine.  In Christ, we are all that and more. If the shoe fits, and it does because of Jesus, then it is about time we learn to wear it with confidence, not in ourselves, but in the Master Cobbler!

It might feel a little strange at first, like you are boasting in yourself. But you are not. Paintings, poems and people are created. They are not the creator. The boasting is 100% in the artist, author and Almighty God!

This is what the Lord says:

“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

Jeremiah 9:23-24New Living Translation (NLT)