No questions asked

Thud! I heard my son's walker run into the doorframe. I waited to see what he would do, while I finished filling up my water bottle. After a few quick seconds, his cries filled the room. I rushed up to him to see what he had gotten into, and realized he had gotten stuck in the hallway, not sure how to back up and out of where he was. I grabbed the handle on the back of his walker, redirected him, and had him squealing with delight when I rushed him from one room to another, zooming in his walker. I found myself talking to him and I said "Don't worry buddy, whenever you get stuck, I will come get you and it'll be okay." I thought about what I said to him for a brief moment and realized it was one of the most honest things I could have ever said. Time and distance didn't change my statement, and I knew that the moment he needed me, whenever and wherever and whatever for, I would drop everything to be there. My throat closed with emotion when I realized that it was a no-questions-asked kind of decision for me, and I thanked God for the ability to love him like this.

As I lingered on this realization that I would sacrifice absolutely everything and anything to be able to help him, I considered what a lesson in love this is for us. We get ourselves stuck all the time. We get stuck in ruts, fall out of prayer and church, stuck in bad habits, stuck in unhealthy relationships, stuck in depression and sadness, stuck in anger. We find ourselves too deep before we realize that we really don't know how to get out, how to get back to where we started. All of a sudden it's scary, and we feel alone and lost, too small in a too big world.

Jesus makes no bones about it. He will come get us anytime, anywhere, for any reason. He won't even ask how we got there, or make us feel bad about our poor decisions, or punish us. All we need to do is ask for Him, ask for His hand, realize we are too far lost and need some help, and He will be there. Jesus doesn't hesitate, doesn't wait for us to cry it out or try to fix it ourselves. He knows we need His help, and is all too happy to give it to us. Luke 19:10 makes it clear to us: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." We are all lost, we all need His saving Grace, and it humbled me to think about having someone I can call upon at any time and know that He will be there with me in an instant.

I think of the song 'Find Out Who Your Friends Are' by Tracy Lawrence, where it talks about calling someone in the middle of the night because your car broke down on the side of the road. The lyrics point out how many would hesitate, maybe think of an excuse, or ignore the call. It isn't easy to find someone loyal enough to put forth the effort to assist at anytime of day or night. This type of companionship is rare, where there is no hesitation about helping, no questions asked. Jesus provides us this kind of companionship, this type of love. My love for my son is all-encompassing and vast, but the love that Jesus has for each and every one of us is nothing short of staggering. God loves us so much that He sacrificed His son for us. We can remember John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." It breaks my heart, while healing it at the same time. We have the most powerful, most amazing God, and He is in our corner, loving little ole us.

Luke 15:3-7 tells us of the story about the lost sheep. It reads "So He told them this parable: What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." You and I are the lost sheep that Jesus searches for, seeks out, rejoices when we are found, and celebrates our reunion with Him. We might get stuck, and we might get lost, and feel too far into the wilderness to help or to find, but we can cry for Him, call Him to us, and He will bring us home with Him and rejoice.

Jesus's love for us is a drop-everything, be-there-as-soon-as-I-can, no-questions-asked kind of love. He will be there in a heartbeat, will pull us out of our confusion, wrap us in His cloak of salvation and peace, and celebrate being together again. When we feel alone, when we realize we might have wandered away from His word, when we get stuck and scared, we can remember that Jesus has been looking for us and all we need to do is call for Him. And He will be there, no questions asked.