"Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you." -James 4:8a
When I was a child, I loved giving hugs. Whenever people would come to visit, I would welcome them and send them away with a hug. Not only did I love giving hugs, but I also loved receiving them. My father's bear hugs made me giggle. They brought an exceptional warmth inside of me. My grandmother's boa constrictor hugs made me hold my breath, yet they still brought great joy and satisfaction to my soul. My mother's gentle panda hugs made me want to stay in her arms forever. They brought overwhelming comfort and peace to my heart. For me, hugs were a physical representation of love given and received, and I could never get enough of them.
But my desire for hugs was short-lived. As intensely as I loved hugs when I was younger, I began to distaste them as I grew older. This aversion became vividly clear to me one night when my daughter approached me to give her a second goodnight hug. As I stood there in my half-hearted hug, I felt pretty uncomfortable and a little exasperated as she tried to squeeze me tighter. Instantly, I felt horrified. "Why don't I want to give my daughter the loving embrace she needs? What kind of mother am I?"
I began to contemplate why and when my natural affinity for hugs had disappeared. I never pinned down a particular day, but my wanderings first brought me back to times men with impure motives had hugged me. Second, I recounted the moments I longed for a reassuring hug from a spouse and received a cold shoulder in its place. Last, I recalled the many occasions I wept alone in Africa because there were no family or friends' comforting arms to embrace.
Upon further reflection, I realized I had gradually become convinced I didn't need hugs and indirectly decided the same for everyone else. I turned off my hugs, which resulted in turning off a section of my heart. I didn't intentionally choose this path, but a hug for me had become a reminder of something painful instead of something precious.
During this moment of truth, I realized many of us shut off our hugs (our physical and spiritual expression of love) to God. We close the arms of our hearts to Him by making the decision we don't need Him, and He doesn't need us. We conclude it is easier to close the door of our hearts than leave it open for further pain and disappointment from a God "who doesn't exist," "doesn't care," or "is too good for us."
Our closed hearts begin a downward spiral of closed doors regarding church and fellow believers, closed pages concerning our Bibles, closed mouths in prayer and worship, and closed hands to others. Ultimately, any of these closed doors lead to new open doors because we have to find a way to fill the void. These new doors often unveil more resounding disappointment and remind us we once had something better.
In your younger years, you might have felt God reaching out to you. You might have given Him some affection as you heard Bible stories about a God who parted the Red Sea, shut the mouths of lions, or raised the dead. Maybe you were the little girl who prayed the big prayers or waited to see God come through for you. You expected Him to bring your father home, heal your mother from cancer, or protect you and your brothers and sisters from harm.
But then, when God didn't respond the way you expected, you closed your heart. You convinced yourself it would be easier to believe God didn't exist than to believe He existed and didn't make life easier for you and the ones you loved. Matthew 13:19 says, "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart."
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” -Matthew 13:19
The devil is always there to distort the message God is trying to send you. The easiest way he can get you to close your heart to God is to emphasize everything that seems contrary to the message: "God is love.," "God is good.," and "God is for you.".
The devil wants you to feel abandoned by God. He does this by offering counterfeit hugs and false realities. When we focus on the pain around us, he knows we close our hearts to the Heavenly Father's pure love. We are unable to feel God holding us, and we fail to experience His enduring love.
“He remembered us in our low estate. His loving devotion endures forever.”-Psalm 136:23
But I must share a truth with you from personal experience. Choosing to open your heart makes all the difference. After that night of personal reflection, I began to willingly and freely open up my heart and arms to my daughter's hugs. I can honestly say it has brought more joy and love to my life. My daughter even gives me hugs when I appear to be stressed, and I openly receive them.
The same is true of God. Opening my heart to Him has brought me closer to divine love and peace. As I have chosen to worship and reach out to God, he has healed, refreshed, and blessed me in ways I could have never imagined. He revealed that I never really cried alone during all those moments, even though I thought I did. He was always right beside me, despite my inability to feel him. He was waiting for me to hold out my arms to him.
Have you ever tried to give someone a hug who doesn't want one? If you have, you should be able to understand what I mean when I say, "When love is forced, it loses its power."
“Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you.”-James 4:8a
To fully experience the power of a hug, you have to open the arms of your heart before you open your physical arms. This truth is the same in the spiritual realm. If you want to connect with God in a genuine, personal way, you must first connect with Him spiritually. Many times you have first to open up yourself to God before you can fully experience His embrace. His spirit is always ready to connect with your spirit and teach you the ways of God.
I believe you will find when you open up your heart to God and allow your spirit to take control, you will begin to see God everywhere and in everything. Be ready to feel His loving embrace that supersedes any human touch you have ever received—an embrace that will make you feel whole and complete, an empowering presence that propels you on a journey of love and purpose you have never traveled before.
Let's Pray.
Lord,
I recognize I may have closed the arms of my heart to you in the past, but today I have decided to open them up again to your loving embrace. I am reaching up to you today because I recognize you are reaching down to me. I am incomplete without your love. Take me to deeper places in you that I cannot go on my own.
Amen
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