Is Pride Keeping You from an Intimate Relationship with God?

I was serving in our church nursery one Sunday, and the coordinator beckoned me over to the toddler area. "Danny's sleepy. Do you mind holding him?"

Of course I didn't! Danny, a gorgeous, cherub-faced one-year-old was leaning his head on one of the foot rests, eyes drooping. "Do you want me to hold you?" I asked, and he immediately turned and lifted his pudgy arms.

I scooped him up and carried him over to a rocker, and we rocked and rocked. He dozed on and off, perhaps never really falling into a deep sleep, but he snuggled with me nonetheless, never once lifting his head, content to be held.

When his parents came to pick him up, they wore looks of surprise. "He never falls asleep like that!" they said.

Later that afternoon, my husband and I saw Danny and his father at a restaurant. Danny was in much the same position with his dad, little head tucked into his father's neck, eyes drooping. By that time, his parents had come to the conclusion that little Danny wasn't feeling well.

I remember those times with my kids well. As they grew older, the cuddly times became limited to the "I don't feel so good" times.

Isn't that what we often do with our heavenly Father?

God waits for us to come and "crawl into His lap" every day and allow ourselves to be "cuddled". But what do I do? Like a toddler discovering the freedom to run, I proclaim:

"I too big for that!"

"Put me down! Put me down!"

"I go play now!"

And then, without warning, the fevers, tummy aches, and runny noses of life hit. And what is the first thing I cry?

"Hold me!!"

Are times of trouble, pain, fear, and uncertainty the only time I go to the Father for comfort and reassurance? Are those the only times I "crawl into my Father's lap"?

I can not speak for you, dear reader. But for me, that is often the case.

And that, in a nutshell - one I don't much like, I might add - is pride.

I've read the verse in 1 Peter 5:7 time and time again: "Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you" (NIV). In the New Living Translation it says, "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you."

But check out what the verse just before that says (1 Peter 5:6): "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time."

Isn't it interesting that just before we are assured that God cares about our worries and fears and that we can give them all to Him, we are told to humble ourselves?

If a young child wants to be held, does he hesitate before lifting his arms, before climbing into his father's lap? When a child has a good daddy, he does not hesitate to go to him. There are no thoughts of "what will people think if they see me" or "do I really have time for that...there are so many important things to do". Oftentimes, the child just wants to be there, just because. Nothing is wrong. He just wants to be cuddled - to feel loved - by his father.

Climbing into God's lap - drawing near to Him and basking in His love - is something we can do daily, no matter how we are feeling. But it means putting "me" aside. Forgetting my independence and self-reliance for just a while and remembering that I have a Father who wants to hold me.

Some of you may be thinking, "But I didn't have a good father. I don't know what it is like to be held and loved and cared for. Why would God love me like that?"

May I assure you that God is a good daddy? Read His words to us in Jeremiah 31:3: "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself." And in one of my favorite passages of Scripture, see how the Father responds to his child:

And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. "But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began. (Luke 15:20-24)

His love for us is immeasurable. And it is ours for the taking!

You know, as sweet as it is to cuddle our feverish children, soothing and comforting them, how much sweeter when they climb into our laps, just because they want to be close to us.

I guarantee you, God feels the same way.

Will you climb into your Father's lap today? He is waiting, and His arms are open wide.