Abba, Father, Daddy

Daily Devotional November 19th

“I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.” (Psalm 63:6)

What is it about the aging process that often robs us of a good night’s sleep? The older I get, the more often are the instances that I awake in the middle of the night, unable to shut my brain down in order to return to sleep. Last night was one of those nights, but instead of tossing and turning I chose to get up, at least temporarily. As I worked on my latest crochet project, I turned my thoughts to prayer...who but God am I going to talk to at 2am? I talked with Him about many of the prayer requests in our church family, current global crises, concerns for family members and about plans for the coming months. At one point in my talk, I had the sensation of God’s pleasure–like that of a parent enjoying a conversation with one of their children. It brought tears to my eyes to know and recognize God’s very intimate response in that moment.

It has left me asking a question of myself: why is it I can often conjure up God as disapproving of sin, unrelenting in His expectations, yet often do not recognize God as my parent who loves to spend time with me, who is pleased with my obedience and desire to become more in-tune with His Spirit within me? Why is it so much easier to picture God as frowning or impassive than with a smile of genuine love? Of course I know these things in my head, but last night was a moment when my feelings were able to recognize this wonderful fact. My heavenly father and I, alone, just chatting.

How much richer would our relationship with God be if we could more easily recognize that He is a Father who loves to laugh and spend time with His children. He is genuinely pleased when we choose not only to serve Him, but seek to spend time in His Word and take the time to just ‘chat.’ Yes, I did lose out on a couple hours of sleep last night and it was somewhat more difficult to get out of bed this morning, but I am grateful for the time I had to spend with my heavenly Father last night. I caught a glimpse of what David felt when he wrote, “I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.” May we all experience God more in this way!

​He is waiting...
~ Pastor Jane