I Was There

What a joy is mine to look into the eyes and hearts of my three children. When I think of how much I, imperfect and so prone to failure, love my children, I am staggered by the reality of how much God loves those who are His. What a privilege to know God by His grace and through faith in Jesus Christ. What an honor to call Him – Father.

Please understand that God has written a love letter to His children called the Bible. What I would like to preserve here is obviously not inspired, but has been a blessing to some in the past. I imagined what God might say to one of His children (consistent with what He has already said to His children in the Bible) if He had a conversation with them about their life. Perhaps you have had a tough go of it lately, or for a long while. Wouldn’t it be cool to find a letter from God in your mailbox, or tucked under the pillow on which you cried yourself to sleep last night? Maybe it would go something like this:

Dear Child,

I watched you running through the fields like you didn’t have a care in the world. I WAS THERE. I saw you learn, grow, and be a kid. I WAS THERE, and I was watching over you. I saw the good times, but I also saw the bad times. You were so young to have experienced the pain caused you by another – one you should have been able to trust, but could not. BUT I WAS THERE. I felt the pain with you. The confusion, the fear, the disappointment – I felt it, because I WAS THERE.

I have been there for it all. I was there when you had to make the hardest decision of your life. I know how you felt, even though you couldn’t tell anyone else. I was there when you felt guilty, ashamed, and just worn out from it all. I felt your confusion, your sense of failure, and your uncertainty and fear about what would happen next. And though it seemed you were alone, you were not. I WAS THERE, and I loved you.

When I look at it all – the good and the bad – I remember who I had in mind from eternity for you to be. And I want you to know something – you are still that person. Nothing has destroyed that because I WAS THERE. I know you must wonder from time to time why, if I was there, I did not just prevent some of the things that were so hard. Why did I allow them? My child, there is no way I can explain it to you in a way that you can understand. My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Just know this: I was always there, I am here now, and I will always be here. Please walk daily in the assurance that you are mine and that I have a wonderful plan for your life. Nothing in your past or your present can prevent My plans for your future!

And please walk daily in the assurance that I have heard your prayers and have forgiven you for the times you walked down the wrong paths. Not only have I forgiven your sins, but I have chosen never to remember them against you again. They are removed from you and from My record as far as the east is from the west. They have been cast into the deepest depths of the sea. I buried them because I was unwilling for them to bury you. They are gone, but you are here. And you are here because I WAS THERE. You are free, and you are forgiven!

You are Mine. I designed you for Me. You will live and become who I made you to be. Nothing is going to take that away from you. Nothing is going to take that away from Me!

You will find in Me all you ever dreamed of and more. I have given you more than you realize you have, but you will learn in time. I have prepared and preserved it all for you, my precious child. All you searched for so long and could never find is yours now. It is real, and it is forever!

Walk in My love, dear child. Walk in My care. Enjoy with all your heart the life I have prepared and preserved for you. Love and live as an offering of thanksgiving to Me. Never look back – only straight ahead. Walk each day with your hand in Mine. Live for me and never forget that you are here because I WAS THERE – all along!

Enjoy, my love. And know, my precious child, that you are the light in My eyes, and that I love you with a love that knows no end.

Your Father