By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
Recently, I was reminded of an experience that happened at my office many years ago. At that time, my computer was stationed behind a counter very near the front door.
It was late in the afternoon and my sweet tooth had kicked in. I recall candy hopping from one desk to another looking for the right treat. Suddenly, my eyes landed on the familiar colored wrapping of a Charms Blow Pop.
Yes! I love those things with the chewing gum tucked inside.
I quickly discarded the wrapper, popped it in my mouth and sat down at my computer to work. Now, you kinda know when you are getting close to the gum so at that point I chomped down hard.
OUCH!!!!!! No gum! OUCH!
It appears I was the sucker in this instance, I grabbed a look-a-like instead of the real thing. My co-worker sitting nearby noticed my painful expression and asked what had happened, and when I explained she chuckled a bit, “Oh, well ….”
“But I wanted the gum inside!” I said.
She chuckled again and teasingly added, “Oh, poor baby. Now suck it up and go back to work.”
So, with the remainder of the imposter pop dangling from my mouth, I did as she had suggested.
Just then, a tall fellow walked into the office. With just a head nod, he began working with our candy dispensers and went straight into a dialogue about local city governments, or the such.
I was trying to recall if I had seen him before as my co-worker and I exchanged a quick glance. He seemed friendly enough, so she and I just sat back and watched him work.
Every now and then, I would lazily switch my lollipop from one side of my mouth to the other, sort of mesmerized as he opened each dispenser with a special key, all the while still talking as he emptied the money into a bag and filled up the machines.
As he was about to close the last one up, he stopped, scooped up a handful of gumballs and placed them directly in front of me. Dumbfounded, I looked up at him. The stranger stared me straight in the eye, smiled and said, “… and you Miss, have a nice day.”
Just like that, he was out the door again.
There was a moment of silence as I removed the sucker and popped one of the gum balls into my mouth, and my co-worker spoke up.
“Well, it looks like you got your gum.”
With my gaze fixed on the gift, I mumbled, “Yeah, yeah I did.”
Later that day, I found myself sitting at a traffic light still pondering on what had happened.
Suddenly, it dawned on me and I spoke out loud, “Father God, did YOU provide that gum for me?”
Immediately, I heard Him speak to my heart, “Brenda, you give your child gum. Why would you think I wouldn’t give my children gum.”
I have no words to express how much joy that simple reminder of my relationship with my Heavenly Father brought to me. For so many years, I had a much different opinion of how God feels about us. I knew only about the stern God, the wrathful God I heard preached about through the Old Testament. (Under the old covenant God dealt with mankind differently then He responds to us today. The birth, sinless life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, changed everything between us and God).
But now, through His word, I am coming to know the true nature of God, and am experiencing more of His unconditional love as I respond to Him and let Him love me.
You know, God will not force His attention on any of us. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He has declared His love for us all through His Son Jesus, but we have free will how we choose to respond to this salivation for eternally and on a daily basis. We can choose to let Him love us, let Him be kind to us, lavish His affections on us, and expect His goodness and mercy to pursue us every single day.
A relationship with God does not just mean “a ticket to heaven,” although a lot of religious teaching has made this the sole purpose. That is not the Gospel message.
“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
I do agree that spending eternity in Heaven with our Lord is the ultimate gift, but knowing Him intimately here and now, in this life was/is His eternal plan.
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
As a good Father, He does encourage us to mature (renewing our minds in His word, finding out who we are now in Christ and Christ living in us, along with His power working in and through us), but this all comes from knowing/receiving His unconditional love toward us and flowing out from our born again spirits.
But I am also learning how to keep a childlike heart towards Him. I came to Him like a child at the age of 33 and by putting faith in what Jesus provided us by grace, I was spiritually born again and became His child.
I fully respect and honor Him as God, Lord over all. At the same time He is also my “Abba Father.” My “Papa God,” and “Daddy.”
I am finding out that it is okay to come sit on His lap and just talk to Him, whether having a heart-to-heart, or just sitting quietly and enjoying His company, or being silly with Him.
It might be revealing knowledge to some of you reading this now, but God is not angry with you. He is not disappointed in you. He has not given up on you. He has not changed His mind about you, either.
God’s love toward us is not based on our individual actions, rather it is entirely based on His Son Jesus. We are accepted in the Beloved.
So it’s okay to let down your guard, come to His as His child.
Open your heart fully and let Father God … Father you.
“Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matt: 7:7-11
(John 1:12-13, 17:3, 2 Cor. 5:18-19, Eph. 1:6’ Matt. 7:6-11, 18:2-4 NKJV)
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
