When our oldest daughter, Jenna, was two, I lost her in a department store.
One minute she was at my side and the next she was gone. I panicked. All of
a sudden only one thing mattered—I had to find my daughter. Shopping was
forgotten. The list of things I came to get was unimportant. I yelled her
name. What people thought didn’t matter. For a few minutes, every ounce of
energy had one goal—to find my lost child. (I did, by the way. She was
hiding behind some jackets!)

No price is too high for a parent to pay to redeem his child. No energy is
too great. No effort too demanding. A parent will go to any length to find
his or her own.

So will God.

Mark it down. God’s greatest creation is not the flung stars or the gorged
canyons; it’s his eternal plan to reach his children. Behind his pursuit of
us is the same brilliance behind the rotating seasons and the orbiting
planets. Heaven and earth know no greater passion than God’s personal
passion for you. Through holy surprises he has made his faithfulness clear.

Noah saw it as the clouds opened and the rainbow appeared. Abraham felt it
as he placed his hand on aging Sarah’s belly. Jacob found it through
failure. Joseph experienced it in prison.

Listen as God articulates his passion: “My heart beats for you, and my love
for you stirs up my pity. I won’t punish you in my anger, and I won’t
destroy Israel again. I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am
among you” (Hosea 11:8-9).

Before you read any further, reflect on those last four words, “I am among
you.” Do you believe that? Do you believe God is near? He wants you to. He
wants you to know he is in the midst of your world. Wherever you are as you
read these words, he is present. In your office, your bedroom, your den. He’
s near.

God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residence
in a distant galaxy. He has not removed himself from history. He has not
chosen to seclude himself on a throne in an incandescent castle.

He has drawn near. He has involved himself in the car pools, heartbreaks,
and funeral homes of our day. He is as near to us on Monday as on Sunday. In
the school room as in the sanctuary. At the coffee break as much as the
communion table.

Max Lucado
___________________________
from And the Angels Were Silent
Copyright 1992 Max Lucado