Seeing my Father

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon
(Isaiah 55:6-7, NIVUK) 

I was lucky enough to see my daughter perform in the Young Voices choir at the O2 Arena recently. She was one of 8,557 school children performing with world-class artists and musicians. It was, as one would expect, amazing!
 
Trying to locate her in the sea of young faces (as per photo), proved much more challenging than I at first thought. It would have been impossible to find her were it not for some direction from a steward about which seating block her school were in, and friends next to me with a heart-shaped light and binoculars. It sounds strange, but it’s true.
 
Our friends brought the light for their daughter to locate them from her seat and also gave her binoculars to see them better. She found them, thanks to the light, and you didn’t need binoculars to see the excitement of spotting her parents.
 
Madeleine was sat next to our friends’ daughter, so she could have a look through the binos to try and spot me. She didn’t find me in the crowd. I found her though, so I would wave my hat every time it seemed like she was looking in my direction. At one point, before the show started, I was looking at her through the binoculars looking for me through the binoculars! I wish there were more that I could do to make her find me in that moment.
 
It made me wonder whether God looks at his children in the same way sometimes: I wish there were more that I could do to make them find me, to make them see me; to make them know I love them and can see them.
 
He has, of course, done everything within his power to show us his love. The eternal, unerring beacon of God’s love, focussed on showing us where he is and to provide the way to find him, is not heart-shaped, but cross-shaped.
 
John describes it like this:
 
This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
 
The biggest sign of love you will ever see is Christ on a cross, and an empty grave.
 
I hope you realise today that God loves you and he sees you. He knows you. He cares for you. He wants what is best for you and therefore offers you himself. And, when you see him today, may you recognise him and feel the same sense of excitement and joy our friends’ daughter felt when spotting her loving parents in the crowd.
 
A prayer - Father, thank you for being with me, even when I don’t see you. Thank you for your love,  care and kindness. Help me recognise your presence and love every day. Amen