This summer God worked in me to help me see and acknowledge just what kind of love He might have for me.  We all know the word Abba.  We’ve all heard He is our ‘Loving Father.’ And as great as my Dad is, I thought I had a pretty good vision of what God being all that for me might look like.  To add to my personal knowledge, I am a parent who knows the joy of giving good things to my children.

Surely I have a sufficient grasp of the love of my Father.  Right?

Not even close.

No other love like this.

I’ve spent the last hour pouring over my favorite chapter in the Bible.  Pop Quiz, what is it?

Revelation 19.  Get’s me every time.  That’s my God, that’s my King and my Deliverer!  It just doesn’t get any better than all that.

As the Rider of the white horse passes me by, set on His course to complete with grand exclamation His saving power on my behalf, I can see Him.  His name emblazoned on His chest and then again as He passes by, written across His thigh. He looks down on me as He thunders past to secure my victory so profoundly.  Close your eyes and see that look.  In the midst of battle, while treading the winepress of the wrath of God Almighty, you can still see it.  He can’t be distracted from it.  He doesn’t ‘turn it off’ until the work is done.  It doesn’t get ‘tabled’ while He’s at work.  It’s always there, always burning, always fierce and present.

He loves me.

In ways I can’t dream up.  To an extent I can’t even envision.  He loves me with a fervor and a sweetness and a selflessness that no relationship on this earth can possibly do justice to.

He won’t just show me all this One day.  He wants to show me today.  Because it’s so high above me, I stop looking at some point.  It’s as though I’ve set my eyes on a wonderful and distant expanse and excitedly look as far as that for His gifts and provisions, but the idea that His love could stretch further just doesn’t even register.

While in Costa Rica this summer I felt the Lord prod me.  Test me, He said.  Let’s do a little experiment.

I know all those thoughts and verses about testing.  But this one was God having fun with me.  Almost showing off.  Let me show you what I can really do. He wanted me to see just the tiniest realization of what all my eyes had never conceived.

So I prayed for monkeys.

Yep, monkeys.

I love monkeys and especially the sweet little capuchin ones.  And I’d never seen one.  They do live on Costa Rica, so I was still ‘playing it safe,’ but at least I was stepping in the water.

I really looked for them all week.  Everywhere I went and everything I did, I wondered with such excitement, will it be here?  Will I encounter my gift today? It was days in and still no monkeys and I’m so thankful that He kept me faithful to believe.

We went on a river cruise.  Literally dozens of these cruises went out that day.

Only one saw monkeys.

We sat in that boat and watched a whole slew of capuchin monkeys play and eat and frolic right in front of us, not 10 feet away. We watched until we just had to leave.  My heart was full.  I got to see monkeys yes.

But I got to see God.  The Abba who delights in me and who Himself got a great thrill out of giving me a childish desire. His gift to me put a smile on both our faces.

And His love goes so much deeper still.

He isn’t distant.  He isn’t callous. He isn’t too busy to be bothered by our needs nor our desires.  He longs for us to rush to Him– to, like a child, approach Him in love, longing, anticipation, and faith.

Does that sound like the God of your day?  Kids don’t avoid loving dads.  Kids don’t have to put, ‘spend time with daddy’ on their to-do lists and make themselves have to do it.  If you only knew what kind of Daddy you have and the love He’s longing to shower you with, you’d run.  You’d run hard after Him and long for a moment in His presence.