February 27

”It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against me, against thy help.” (Hosea 13:9 ASV)

I have often seen it – for example when parents fetch their children at the nursery school. And as I think of it, I have experienced it myself, when our children were small. Parents and children have been away from each other maybe for a whole day. They have been longing for each other. But when the parent comes to get the little child, he or she becomes totally transformed. He or she kicks and hits and is wildly resisting the parents’ attempts to comfort and help the little one. As a parent you feel rather helpless in such a situation and you easily jealously think that the person who cared for the child the whole day is more important to the child than you are. However, reality is probably that when the parent finally arrives, the child can relax and express its frustration for being left behind.

Sometimes we behave like the little child, giving full outlet to our frustration towards the one who really love and care for us. When God comes close to us we reject him curtly. We are “against” God, he who is our only certain helper. Imagine instead that we would relax and let Him care for us.

Prayer
Father you long for relationship with us as much as we long for You in our innermost being. We may not always understand that our frustration has its roots in our longing for You. Come and care for us today. Help us to rest in Your arms.