
child with bucket
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Heavenly Father watches
out for us
I am often on the lookout for special life experiences /
stories that speak to me of my Heavenly Father’s love ,
as portrayed in earthly fathers , mothers etc ..
here is one of them
I watched a little guy today
Walk back across the sand
A coloured tub of water
Carried carefully in his hands
I waited there to watch the scene as it was played…
Every now and then he’d stop
The precious water for the moat
He didn’t want to spill a drop
Meant for the most amazing fortress in the land
The castle near the dunes that he and dad had made ….
Small measured, faltering footsteps
Walking tightrope painstakingly across the beach
He stepped towards the shore
A concentrated effort there to reach
It seemed like miles , his jangling nerves were frayed…..
And then he tripped and spilt some of the water
He picked himself and bucket up
Inspection made, he realised
That more than half had gone
His bottom lip now quivering
As tears came in his eyes
It was so hard for me to watch, but at a distance I must stay
For out the corner of my eye
I saw someone coming
The little boy could see him too
His dad had witnessed everything
And he was running
On reaching him he took his hand, turned back towards the sea
And said ‘come , son, walk with me’
An action, an encounter that couldn’t fail to make my day
Some people see God as a nasty distant finger pointing judge
Who cannot wait to punish us for what we have or haven’t done
But for me and many of my friends we know Him as a Father
The kind that watches out for us
And runs to meet us as a child , to treat us as a son or daughter
Two things I saw and maybe more , in this oft played –out scene
The father knows the water will not be
Enough to fill the moat
As soon as it is poured
It will sink and be soaked up
But he did not appraise the child
Of this futility
When you are young and very small
You do not know the things that grown-ups see
And life is an adventure
Jesus said :
Become as a little child and
I have come to give you life abundantly
And then :
The father let his son set out
But all the while He watched him
In readiness to run and help
To place his arms around him
To speak words of comfort and encouragement
And walk the walk he walked
Jesus said to His friends “ I will never leave you …. “
“ I will always be with you “
And does that mean it won’t be tough
The seas be calm and never rough
NO
It means He’s with us in it all
However big , however small
john nuttall May 2018