Who Ran First?

My mother has tons of old sayings. Like whenever the chicken fries up just perfect she will say, “Well, the moon must be just right in the sky.” And it could be the middle of the afternoon out there, but the moon is still somewhere and wherever it is it is just right. Whenever my nose itches she says, “Somebody’s coming to see you.” Or when your left hand itches she says, “You're going to get money.” And whenever the sky holds the perfect sunset that resembles a painting, She always says, “God must have painted that sky just for me.”

She has said that for years. So, now I can’t see a beautiful sunset without thinking of her and saying, “Yes, God must have painted that sky just for my mother.” And I kind of feel that way at sunrises. Like this one I just captured last week on Paradise Island from my own camera... I had a season of my life where I really enjoyed running, especially in that early part of the morning right between the final remnants of yesterday and first part of the new day. Watching the sun break through darkness is absolutely one of my favorite things. I called this “tilling time” in my Savannah series, where Savannah started her day out running and just having that dialogue with the Lord.

Well, I don’t run quite as much as I use to for a host of reasons. But every now and then, like last week, before the sun came up, I just wanted to run. Then Friday, I’m reading this passage in Proverbs 4:12 that has me thinking. “When you walk, your steps shall not be hampered-your path will be clear and open; and when you run you shall not stumble.” I wrote this down and then put two questions below it. When do I walk? When do I run? I sat there for a minute just staring at those two questions and asking myself. When do I run? When are the times in my life that I don't simply need to walk, but I need to run.
So, I began thinking about people in the Bible that at one time or another ran. The word walk is found often in the Bible-occurs 212 times in the Bible, while run only occurs 71 times. So, obviously walking is done far more often. But there are moments when people run. And that was what was tugging at me. When do I run? Because it doesn’t say “if” you run. But “when” you run. So, what are the times in my life where running isn’t just available but necessary?
The very first place my mind went was the scene in Luke 15 when the father of the prodigal son runs to meet him. This scene is a powerful scene and preached on so often. But it is usually used as an analogy of how God waits on us and our prodigal hearts to come home. And then I realized before I can run anywhere and accomplish anything, I have to first realize that He ran to me. Just like the father of the prodigal ran to meet His son. That’s exactly what God did with me. He ran after me.

But it was even more than that. Not only did He run after me, He was looking for me. Luke 15 says that even while the prodigal was way down the street his father saw him. Now I don’t know about you, but that has me picturing the father standing at the window. Looking. Waiting.

I use to sit at the window of my dad’s office in Greenwood, Indiana with my best friend Dawn McPherson watching and waiting and ‘hoping and praying’ for Donnie Osmond to come over the top of the hill past the corn field and to my door. Trust me, I would have seen him a mile away. After all I knew what he’d be wearing too, since I had my Donnie and Marie dolls and everything.
I have to believe that God has waited at the same window for you and me. Just hoping we would get close enough and when we did he would run to meet us. Desperate to wrap His arms around us. Tell us about the sleepless nights He’s spent waiting for our hearts to be willing to turn in the direction of home. (I know God never slumbers or sleep, but this is my way of relating this story...) Knowing that if we would just turn the corner and head back He would grab us and not let us go.

We’re going to talk this month about things worth running for. But before we can understand or appreciate or even be able to run towards something, we have to have a clear understanding of who ran first. The Creator of Heaven and Earth found you and I worth chasing. Worth looking for. Worth running after.

I love those scenes in cheesy romantic movies where the man and woman take two full hours to figure out they are destined to be together and then they take that final run towards one another. They end in a passionate embrace while the credits roll.

Well, this is far more than a cheesy movie. This is the story of our lives. And in order for any credits to roll, we first have to be willing to receive the love that has been chasing us, looking for us, waiting for us. When we do, then we can begin to fully realize all that is worth running towards ourselves.

May you turn towards home. I guarantee you’ll find He’s been looking for you...