Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Matthew 23:37.

This morning in reading You Are the Beloved by Henri Nouwen, I loved this: “I need Your loving grace to travel on this hard road that leads to the death of my old self to a new life in and for You. I know and trust that this is the road to freedom.”

Do we ever consider how Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, feels? He created all that is; and we, His children, dearly loved by Him, push back constantly. And He longs to gather us together in love and we are not willing. This psalm, Psalm 135, like so many others, tells of the children of Israel and God’s intervention for them. It talks about idols…The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made my human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. v. 15-18. That’s heartbreaking when you truly think about it. What idols do we put before God and become like? Constant push back.

Sharing more from Henri Nouwen…”O Lord, who else or what else can I desire but You? You are my Lord, Lord of my heart, mind, and soul. You know me through and through. In and through You everything that is finds its origin and goal. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love and compassion. Why, then, do I keep expecting happiness and satisfaction outside of You? Why do I keep relating to You as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim, and sensual pleasures? Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make You the only one? Why do I keep hesitating to surrender myself totally to You? Help me, O Lord, to let my old self die, to let me die to the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to my false desires. Let me be reborn in You and see through You the world in the right way, so that all my actions, words, and thoughts can become a hymn of praise to You.” (From A Cry for Mercy).

Sometimes we need to stop and consider what would be better when we see the world and its problems for what it is. Do we need help? Can this world give us that help? Can the One who made us give us that help? Instead of being overwhelmed as we ponder these questions, it’s good to remember we, all of us, are the children of our God, dearly loved, and that He longs to gather us so that we can truly begin to love one another and know and love God. It’s so easy to get lost. It’s so easy to think God cannot love us. Remember how He longs to gather us? You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8. Turn to Him. Let Him gather you in His love for you and find the rest your heart, mind, and soul desperately needs and longs for.