The Love of a Father

Many years ago, we were at the Kansas City Zoo. The Kansas City Zoo has 2 very large sections with a smaller section in between. We had finished the one large section and entered the smaller section. My wife had taken my youngest son into the bathroom to change his diaper. My oldest and middle sons and I decided to purchase a drink from the drink machine. My middle son, Christian, was standing right beside me so I asked him which drink he wanted. He was probably 4 at the time. He pointed at a drink so I hit that button. I reached down, grabbed the drink, and turned to give it to him. He was gone.

In the few seconds that had lapsed, he was gone. I frantically looked for him. It quickly changed to pure panic as I could not find him. A few adults in the area asked what he looked like and what he was wearing. My brain could not even process what was happening. They notified a worker who was close by. They communicated on their CB radio a description of the child to the other staff members. I ran to the entrance of the bathroom door and my wife was coming out. I asked her if she had seen him, hoping he had gone in looking for her. He did not. He was gone. Panic went to sheer terror. I was shaking all over. It was like everything was going in slow motion. In the background, I could hear some adults calling his name, looking for him. He was nowhere to be found. The staff person said they were getting ready to close the park down and call the police.

This can't be happening. We were so careful with our children. We watched them closely all the time. I began praying. Crying. Praying some more. Asking God to show us where he is and that he is safe. He had been missing for what seemed like hours but was probably 15 minutes or so. Just then, a worker came over the CB radio that they had found a young child and told us where they were. I went running in that direction. It seemed like forever but in reality, was several minutes. You see, Christian had walked off from me and got inside a large group of school kids. They walked away from us, down a path through a bunch of eating places, through another area with kids' rides and activities. Then they crossed a very long and high-up bridge. A bridge with a train track on one side of it. Once they were across the bridge, they went down a long hill to the second large section of the zoo. Hundreds if not thousands of people everywhere in that section, trains and trams going by, my child by himself.

I finally found him with a security guard. I hugged him harder than I ever hugged him before. Tears pouring down my face. I just kept saying, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!" I kissed him and told him that I loved him. Hugged him some more. To this day, when I think about that incident, I tear up. So thankful that God took care of my child. He kept my child safe from countless things that could have hurt him. So why am I telling you this story? This story is a picture-perfect story of the amazing love of God for you. Like a worried father, concerned over his children. Running to us. Making sure we are ok. Grabbing ahold of us. Wrapping His arms around us. Loving on us. Telling us how much He loves us. Showing how much he loves us.

Many Preachers, Pastors, and more paint a picture of this angry God. A God who cannot stand us. A God that wants to destroy us. Destroy the Earth. Judgment is coming! God is going to destroy everything but us, since we will be gone. LOL. We have conferences on these subjects regularly. Posts in social media, endlessly. When was the last time you saw a conference on the love of God? My guess is never. Why? The love of God is the foundation of everything. The love of God changes lives forever. So if that is the case, why don't we have more conferences on the love of God? It's not sexy. It doesn't put people in the seats. Christians are fascinated with God taking us out of here, escaping the world and all its issues. Many Christians do not realize that if we could show others the love of God and tell them how the love of God would change their life forever, what an impact they would make.

Instead of the old fear tactic of "If you die today, where would you go" statements, we tell them what the love of God would do in their life. Talk about changing the world. Instead of giving them promises of the afterlife, giving them promises of an amazing life with Jesus! Right here, right now! That is really what the Gospel is supposed to be about. The fact that God came down to Earth, off His throne, came as a baby lived, and was murdered. Everything He went through, the beating, the spitting on, the slapping, the name calling, the crucifixion, His death, everything was a reflection of His love for you, for me, for us!! He left His throne for you! Because He loves you. Because he wants the absolute best for you, right here on Earth. Not so you can leave it, so you can have dominion over it. Live here. Honor God here. I am a walking example of how the love of God can change your life forever. When He comes in. When His love pours over you, you see everything different. Everything you see you see through the love of God.