arms of love

I’ve shared recently about how God is teaching me lessons on grace. What is grace? I’ve heard it defined as unmerited favor…. good and loving treatment that is not deserved.

God desires to pour out His grace on me…  That means that I am loved and favored by Him even though I am not worthy.

I’ve spent so much of my life being critical of myself. I am so good at beating myself up… I find that I do it as effortlessly as breathing. So, it’s hard for me to imagine that God loves me and favors me. Most days, I really don’t believe it.

The Lord has been trying to get through to me. He just keeps pouring out the blessings and the second chances. No matter what I do, He keeps insisting that He loves me. He sees the good in me… the good that I am unable to see.

This morning at church, we were singing a song that always touches me:

Lord of the heavens
King of all days
Without you my world slips away
Redeemed by your mercy
Consumed by your grace
Now I live for you

I’m found in the arms of love
Your love it has saved my soul
I’ll run to your arms of love
Your life’s gonna lead me home

Often when I am singing  in church, the Lord plants images in my mind that I believe are like little messages from Him. I’m a very visual person, so I think that’s why He communicates to me this way. Maybe you think I’m just crazy, but I know it’s Him.

Many of the images are the same time after time. I often see myself with Jesus on the beach.  Today, I saw something new. As I was singing the words, “I’m found in the arms of love,” I saw Jesus walking on the beach carrying me. My children were walking behind us. It was so powerful that even now I feel the emotion flooding me all over again.

He truly is carrying me right now. I have no idea how I get though each day…homeschooling my girls while caring for our baby boy and a houseful of responsibilities.  Sharing life with a husband that loves me endlessly, yet I often feel as though I have nothing to give back to him. This path is not easy. There are so many things that I am not able to do in this season. I can’t catch my breath if I think about it too much.

Yes, Jesus is carrying me. But there was something unseen in this beach image that came through. He wasn’t carrying me because He had to, not because I was such a failure. He was carrying me because He loves me and he knows how demanding life is right now. He knows that I’m tired and emotional. He knows that I am walking this path because He asked me to. He was carrying me in His arms of love because that’s what He promised He would do. He promised that He would never leave me or forsake me… and there it was, as clear as day in my mind.

I’m found in the arms of love.