He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. ~Job 36:16 (NIV)

I happily read a book filled with beautiful metaphors, the prose rich, resonant, and providing me with pleasure. Then, abruptly, the author stated, "though I'm not spiritual..." I felt sadness that the writer was solely connected to the natural, not realizing the Creator's gift bestowed on him to write so eloquently, causing the English language to sing. 

Yet I am no different than this author at times. It is as if I am not spiritual. I become tangled inside anxiety, enamored with my own ideas, my faith in God expressed in sloppy elisions. I am consumed with self-effort, forgetting the expansive love of the Father. Burned out and panting with fatigue. I typically experience the rescue of His relentless mercy while watching a sunrise. It happened just this way a few mornings ago.

I awakened at dawn and looked in the mirror, a pillow mark deeply embedded on the side of my cheek. I rubbed my hand over the indentation on my face and felt glad I had nowhere to be for a while. It would take  some time for that mark to disappear. I walked downstairs and gasped. The sun, a mass of golden rays, glided in through the blinds. I sat down on a chair and absorbed all the light flooding in through the window. I didn't want to review my to-do list or ponder all the things I needed to accomplish. I no longer cared about the ugly dent in my cheek.  I simply desired to be in His presence. Pandora played a song by Fernando Ortega, Give Me Jesus. I knew the lyrics and sang it aloud in the spacious place of my living room...In the morning when I rise, in the morning when I rise, in the morning when I rise, give me Jesus. Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus. You can have all this world, but give me Jesus. 

His merciful wooing to bring me to a place free from restriction is the comfort I need to strengthen me. The love of the Father for a daughter. 

God's grace and peace to you all. May the beauty and love of the Father strengthen and comfort you.