I have known parents who preferred their own comfort, their own pleasures, or their own convenience, over the love, security, and nurturing their child deserves simply by reason of conception, for it is at that beginning of life that parental responsibility is incurred. For most parents that sense of responsibility is almost as inherent as their child’s DNA, but for some, it is far too easy to abandon a child to abortion, to neglect, to abuse, or to absence. The child who grows physically amidst abandonment is far too often stifled in her emotional, social, and spiritual development as the child tries to make sense of the absences, searching for the certainty of a love that stabilizes and nurtures. Left to her own imaginings and whims, unguarded by that protective love, she makes choices that deepen her sense of abandonment, building walls of anger or depression, or simply withdrawal. Her God-given potential is minimized or thwarted, and she enters an adult world with many of her insecurities still intact. Often, she struggles against the absences natural to adulthood with little knowledge or coping skills. She is the child who was abandoned, orphaned by the tragedies of life.
It is something Jesus promises He will never do to those who are the children of God – something He too in His own personhood of the Trinity confirms with His words and His proactive stanch. No, I will not abandon you as orphans – I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised again to life, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. There is an incredulous, unbreakable bonding in those words that draws us into an eternal, tragedy-defying union. Jesus’ last words to His disciples were, “And be sure of this: I am with you always.” And the writer to the Hebrews echoes the heart of Christ when he quotes the Father’s words to Jewish believers about to enter the land of promise, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” The eternal presence of the Father and the eternal presence of the Son are co-joined in the Spirit of the Godhead who dwells within us. Because I am His daughter, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into my heart. And with the eternal presence of the Godhead within me, my heart calls out for my heavenly Daddy, and I know, I know, that He is there! No absences! Amazing, unquenchable love! Security, nurturing, protection, growth in my God-given potential, maximized to bring glory to the One who loves me!
Even for the one who has known the abandonment that is sometimes inflicted by the imperfect love of imperfect people, that eternal presence soothes and softens the rawness of the wounds left behind, and heals the scars of abandonment. Dear Jesus, immerse me in Your love and wrap Your arms of protection around me. Satisfy the deepest longings of my brokenness with the healing presence of Your eternal, unquenchable Spirit.
(Related Bible reading: John 14:15-26)
