Enveloped in His Arms | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Enveloped in His Arms | Previous Challenge Entry
By Tiffany Johnson
09/11/14
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There used to be a sister in my church who just radiated the love of God. She always beamed with delight, and her joyful smile mesmerized everyone. As I grew in my budding relationship and began to know her better, I always looked forward to greeting her after church. She always gave the best hugs that were so warm and sincere. When she placed her arms around you, it was as if you felt completely enveloped in God’s love. It was something so genuine and true. You just knew she thought the world of you. And you just couldn’t help to give those feelings right back.

Thinking back to when I first met Sister *Ortiz, I recall that my initial response was not so welcoming. I remember how stiff my arms felt as they flopped to my sides. I could only manage to offer a forced smile as she walked away. The close embrace of a stranger just felt so foreign. Besides, why would she hug me in this way? She did not really even know me. It just felt so uncomfortable letting someone I did not really know get so close to me.

I think the way I responded to Sister Ortiz is the same way we often respond to God’s loving embrace. We don’t really trust it. We just don’t know how to respond to his incomparable love for us. After all, we don’t feel as if we could ever really be “chummy” with God. Then of course we run across the scriptures in which He calls us “friends of God.” But really we are more than that. We are His sons (and daughters)! His heirs!

It’s quite natural to “back away” from God. After all, we shudder to think that the all-knowing and powerful God could REALLY know us. Not the phony and pretentious us that spouts off “Christianese” in Church. But the terribly lonely, broken, afflicted, and flawed person we are in our homes behind closed doors. If he really knew that person, why on earth would he ever want us so near to Him? How could he possibly think the best about us?

The disturbingly amazing truth is that he really does know us possibly better than we know ourselves. He does desire so much to be close to us. He continues to woo us with His perfectly effervescent love that never fails. We should dare let Him envelop us in His arms. No one who ever does is ever disappointed by his matchless embrace.

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