Daddy...Daddy...I neeeeeeed you Daddy!

This is what I heard echoing through the halls of our new house while reading my Bible in the sunroom this morning not long before I needed to head off to work. It was Josh, my 3 and a half year old boy, he was looking for his Dad - he NEEDED his Dad - and he was making it clear for the whole world to know.

Somehow there was an unmistakable sense of trust in his voice. Joshy just knew that "with Dad" was a safe place to be. It reminded me yet again that this is exactly how God wishes we would approach our relationship with Him.

A few months ago Ness & I had been away from the kids for a few days and I took Rachel (our 6 year old) with me to band practice before church on a Sunday morning. Rachi sat watching throughout rehearsal and as I was coming off stage she leapt off her chair, ran up to me, threw her arms around my legs & squeezed for all she was worth.

There was no hint whatsoever of any uncertainty as to whether or not she would be received. It was a no holds barred expression of her love & trust with all the passion she could muster. At the time it again struck me that this is how God would love for us to approach Him.

Hebrews 10:19 talks about us walking right up to God without hesitation, right into the holy place that before Jesus cleared the way for us with His sacrifice was inaccessible to us. Jesus told his disciples: "Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." (Mark 10:15, The Message)

Last night I had just finished disciplining Teagie (our oldest at 8 years old) for something when she sat right back down next to me on the couch & snuggled in close for a cuddle. It struck me again how different that is to how I sometimes approach God when I have fallen short of what I know is his best for me.

So often I feel like I need to self-impose a period of separation, usually in line with how bad I rate my failure. Meanwhile God is just wishing that I would make it right with Him & press in close again, safe in the knowledge that His love for me is complete. I need to learn to be less intellectual & 'adult' about how I approach God when He is feeling distant & I don't know where he is. To simply stand still & cry out...

"Daddy...Daddy...I NEED you Daddy!"