Parking Lot Accident

     Dark had already fallen and it was raining. Lights shimmered off puddles on roads and parking lots. I was driving, but perhaps I shouldn't have been, for my mind and heart were in distress about some of the circumstances I was facing.

    I turned into the parking lot of a business. The lot was crowded with other customers, and I was peering through the rain, trying to angle into an empty spot when suddenly I heard a resounding thunk.

    I had hit someone. A woman, dressed in black, was standing outside my window making exclamations. This was the last thing my weary soul needed. I put my car in park, panicking. My mind was flooded with terrible scenarios. I opened my door and began apologizing profusely.

    She was fine, she said. It was only her arm. It had hit my side mirror and bent the mirror back. I was shaken. All my former distress was compounded by this new tragedy, and suddenly it was all too much to handle. Tears began slipping, unbidden, from my eyes.

    In a strange turn of events the woman became concerned about comforting me. Her kindness only made me cry more. I couldn't believe the love she was showing me or the way God had clearly softened her heart.

    When I hurt God, I have found Him to react in the same way. When I have been careless or disobedient, He does not come to me with anger and hate. Rather it is love, again and again, that He shows me. Such tender love that I cannot begin to comprehend! It is a love that makes my unworthiness stand in stark contrast to His glory. Instead of throwing me out, He draws me near, holds me close, and soothes my spirit while I wonder at the fact that the King could care for such a one as I!

    Are you troubled by something in your life? Have the stresses built up to seemingly unfathomable heights? Is there a wrong you have done that needs to be righted? He's waiting to forgive you, to help bear the weights, to give you the strength to scale your mountains. Open the car door, ask Him for His aide or His forgiveness. If you stay inside, shaking behind the closed door, you will never feel His embrace. You won't know the warmth of His love. 

    Take courage. Step out. Ask for what you need, whether it be forgiveness or His hand to cling to. Our God's love is greater than you or I can ever imagine or deserve.