I Think God is a Hugger

The cherry trees were beautiful. The monuments were too, but to this mother's heart, the most beautiful sight I saw on my first night in Washington was my daughter.

All grown up and knee-deep in her first full-time job, she now lives three states away. I hadn't seen her since New Years day and couldn't wait for my birthday weekend so I could visit.

The first thing I did was hug her tightly, trying in vain to express all the happiness that was bubbling out of me. Although we talk often by phone, electronic communication just doesn't compare to sharing a great big bear hug every now and then. It was an exuberant, unrestrained expression of love.

While I've never read a Bible verse about whether God is a hugger, I strongly suspect he is. Many times during periods of sorrow and joy I have experienced the indescribable feeling of God wrapping his big strong arms around me in a tender embrace. Others have shared this same experience.

Listen to one young lady's description of the night she came to faith in Christ:

"As we were praying, an indescribable feeling flooded the room. I will never forget that feeling or that moment of Him being right there next to me, wrapping me up so tenderly in His arms. It felt like the first hug I had ever known."

This young lady became a Christian at a summer camp. As she began to experience the joy of her salvation, she wrote this:

"The rest of the session I was so eager and ready to learn, and so desperately afraid to return home and lose God and all these people who knew Him and hugged like Him."

People who "knew Him and hugged like Him."

This phrase challenges and convicts me. I ask myself, in the busyness of my life, how often do I stop and hug people like he does? It's easy to hug people I love, like my sweet daughter, but I have a harder time hugging the unlovely. 

But these are the very people who need a hug from God, through me, most of all.

 Lord, help me hug like you hug. 

"We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

How about you? Have you ever been hugged by God? Tell us about it in the comment box below. I'd love to hear your story. And if you're reading by email, click here to leave a comment.

"We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). 

 

You want to connect with God, but in the craziness of life, it’s just not happening. You want practical, biblical answers to situations you face every day, but you don’t have hours to pore over Scripture.

You need a resource that answers the questions you’re afraid to ask out loud. Questions like:

• Is my situation hopeless?
• If God already knows what he’s going to do, why bother to pray? 
• Why have you allowed this to happen to me? 
• No one appreciates what I do. Why shouldn’t I quit? 

Each devotion begins with a Facetime question and ends with a biblical answer wrapped in a modern day parable. Like a spiritual power bar, Hungry for God … Starving for Time is packed with enough scriptural nutrition to get you through the day. Wherever you are—in break rooms, carpool lines, or wherever you can snatch five minutes of quiet reflection—Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women is for you.

If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe? I'll send you twice-weekly 5-minute devotions to help nourish your soul. 
Because women need to connect with God in the craziness of life. 

Enter your email address and VALIDATE the Feedburner email sent to your inbox.



Delivered by FeedBurner

Hungry for God is on Facebook! Will you take a moment and LIKE my page? CLICK HERE to help HFG share 5-minute devotions.
 

 

 

Real Men Sing Loud

I absolutely love to stand next to Steve during worship time.  He sings louder than anyone I've ever known.  He loves God, and he wants everyone to know it. The volume of his impressive voice is so well known at our church that one day we ordered him a Promise Keepers t-shirt  that said REAL MEN SING LOUD. Thankfully, he has a perfectly pitched baritone voice, but it is not his perfect pitch that makes me want to stand next to Steve at church.

What attracts me to Steve's worship circle is what I notice happening in me when I am near him.  When he opens his mouth to loudly praise God through song,  I notice that I sing more loudly too.  When his voice swells and fills the sanctuary next to me, I am less hesitant to sing out.

You see, my voice is much less perfectly pitched than Steves, and it is  not always on key.  My voice squeaks at the high notes and fades on the low ones.  Sometimes I miss a note entirely or hold it too long. I am not bold when I sing praises to God, because I am afraid I won't do it right and someone will notice.  I don't want to embarrass myself.

When Steve's voice washes over me on its way to God, however, I know I can sing as loudly as I want, and no one but God will hear me. Steve's voice covers mine and makes me bold to do what I am not brave enough to do on my own.  Steve's voice gives me courage.

Zephaniah 3:17 reminds me of Steve.  It says that  "God. . . rejoices over us with gladness and exults over us with loud singing."

Like Steve, God  likes to sing loudly. 

And what is the object of His praise? 

Me. 

Me?

Me!

Me with the impatient nature and selfish disposition.  Me with good intentions but not always good follow through. Me who tends to serve when it's convenient, but not when it's hard.  Me who in my pursuit of God hits more sour notes than good ones. 

Me.

Zephaniah 3:17 reminds me that like Steve's voice covers mine and makes me less afraid to sing out, God's voice over me can do the same. God is so in love with me that He wants the world to know. He believes in me, rejoices over me, and sings over me.  God's voice can cover me and make me bold. His voice can give me courage. His voice can empower me to step out in faith and do what I know He is calling me to do, whether I do it right every time or not.

Dear friend, when you are tempted allow your imperfections to keep you from doing something for God, remember today that He is exalting over you with singing.

Loud singing.

Would you join Steve and me as we lift our voices and our actions to SING OUT for the glory of God?

CHOSEN

 
 
I marked the date on my calendar and circled it in red.  April 1st.  I knew I would have to wait until at least nine a.m. before checking the website to see if I had won.  I had submitted yet another entry in a scholarship competition to attend the She Speaks Writers conference, and April 1st was the day they would announce the winner.
 
At one second after 9 a.m. I logged onto the website and whispered one more prayer for God’s will and the grace to accept whatever that was. . .
 
I dutifully read the preliminary words about how each writer was a winner even if they weren’t chosen, and how difficult it had been to choose the winner out of 160 articles submitted for consideration.  I read the encouragement to “Keep writing.” and “Don’t give up."
 
Then I reached the paragraph that contained the winner’s name. . . 
 

and it wasn’t mine.  

 

I wasn’t chosen.

 

Not chosen.  Not chosen.  Not chosen.  Not good enough.  The words echoed in my head as the breath I had been holding escaped in a sigh of disappointment.

 

And before I could inhale, the words began again.

 

"The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.”

 

"You are My witnesses, And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He.”

 

“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

 

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

 

“You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:”

 

I am a winner.  I will keep writing.  And I will not give up.  I am CHOSEN.