Running Away

"Running Away" 

My soul hurts here. 
I'm faithless right now, Father 
In this place of self-pity. 
I can't stand it hardly any longer. 

I want out.
Why won't you just let me go? 
I don't need your embraces. 
It's been so long, I think I'd know. 

I'm stubborn, Lord. 
My head tells me 
You still want me. 
But, my heart says don't believe me. 

Are you still there?
Where have you gone?
This pain is suffocating.
I can't hold my breath for long. 

You promised me sweet, sweet places.
You invited me to "come away".
That's what I long for and desire most,  
But, I'm already prepared to run the other way. 

This place is broken, scattered, 
Tattered, and falling apart.
It's withering slowly. 
God, I'm desperate for a new heart. 

In me, why do you take such delight?
If only you could see into this cloud
Of filth and shame and see that
Your bride's not spotless and white.  

Bring life again to this dry place. 
Let my heart swell at the mention of your name.
Teach it to dance again with you precious one.  
Oh precious one, the one that was slain. 

You ask me, "Where are you running to?"
To you it seems already so clear. 
"A better place," I reply from my clouded thoughts,    
But you answer, "Child, you're already here."


-Jordan Miller 

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Show and Tell

The last couple of weeks I've been reading through "The Story." Basically this book puts the Bible in chronological order and tells the Bible as a continuous story. The book has definitely helped me grasp a lot of things I didn't understand before and realize things I'd never thought of before. 

Reading through the story of Moses again has allowed me to notice new things. In particular, I never really realized how God's character plays a role in this story. God can often be seen as vengeful or angry in the Old Testament. However, when I read through the story again, I saw it--God's role as a Father. Take a second and think about the characteristics of a dad. Maybe protective, strong, providing, loving, or respectful came to mind. With these characteristics in mind, take a step back to your Kindergarten classroom...

The day has finally arrived! On most "Show and Tell" days, you would jump out of bed that morning searching frantically for your most prized  possession. Whether it was a teddy bear, Barbie, or a toy car---you know it meant the world to your five-year old self. You spent hours playing with it, and most likely, you carried it absolutely everywhere. However, this day is different. Today, you were asked to bring a parent to "Show and Tell" to share about their career choice. You decide to bring dad. As it grows close to that time, the teacher asked everyone to go to the carpet. Just as you are sitting down, your dad walks in the door. You jump up, scream, "Daddy!!" (much to your teacher's dismay), and run to meet his open arms. As a Kindergartener, you care little about the classmates you bumped into or the trail of objects you knocked over in this process. Only one thing was on your mind--getting to your daddy.

After your "bear hug," you drag him to the carpet to sit next to you. You can hardly contain your excitement---your face is beaming and your stomach fills with butterflies. You want everyone else to know how incredible your dad truly is because you are proud of him.

What would it be like to be proud of our heavenly Dad? I mean, there's quite a lot to be proud of. Replaying this memory in my mind made me start to wonder were the Hebrews proud of  Dad?

1) Dad comes to rescue them by sending Moses.

2) Dad shocks the Egyptians by sending 10 different plagues (each one pertaining to an Egyptian god just so the Egyptians could pray to their gods and not be saved from the plagues--ultimately, bringing God glory).

3) Dad parts a whole sea in two.

4) Dad leads His children through the night with a pillar of fire.

Really the list goes on and on as His story unfolds. Even reading through this story again, our Father has reminded me of his protective and fatherly nature he has with his children. That hasn't changed. He feels the same way about me as he did with Moses nearly 3500 years ago! He protects his children. He provides for his children. He loves his children.

I'm proud to call him my Father and proud to be called his daughter.  

link to book:

 http://www.thestory.com/home

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