Abba, Father

"The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”  John 10:3

As I sat in my rocker I heard our mama cat calling for her kitten.  She paced on the arm of the couch as she meowed for him to come out of the corner he was tucked in.  Out from the comfort of the blankets to follow her to the place of her choosing.  It was nighttime and she was taking him to the safe home she made for them underneath our boy’s bed.  It’s where she takes them every night once the house is settled down.  She knows they’re protected there.  Slowly, the yellow and white fur ball made his way out of the blankets.  He looked for his mother as she called out to him from the middle of the floor.  Once he spotted her, he clumsily walked to her, lifted his paws up to her belly and searched for a place to nurse.  She licked his back, reassuring him and loving him.  Then she walked away.  She went to the steps and again the little kitten followed.  I heard her walk half way up the stair case and once again call for her kitten.  He sat at the bottom, looking up at her, unable to climb the stairs himself.  Mother cat came back, gently picked him up and carried him.  Up the stair they went, back the long dark hall to the safety of where they belonged.

“Like newborn babies, long for pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow…” 1 Peter 2:2

I rocked in my chair and watched this scene unfold.  It was sweet.  Through it God allowed me to recognize how similarly He calls out for us.  Beckons us to come out of the safety of our walls, our fears, our doubts.  Out into the unknown, where we feel vulnerable and unsure of our way.  Yet all along he reassures us as we seek him.  He fills us with His Word, leading us on the right path that He has chosen.  He knows the place He has chosen for us.  It is a place of fullness, of His protection, where He knows we best fit.    He remains right beside us, calling us on.  He doesn’t allow us to stay stuck when our eyes are on Him.  When we are weak, worn and unable, He is strong and He carries us onward.  And although the path He calls us to may be uncomfortable, He will never leave us alone in the dark.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”  2 Corinthians 12:9

The bond between our mother cat and her kittens is one that never ceases to amaze me.  She knows where they are at every moment of every day.  At times she watches over them from a distance and others she snuggles up beside them.  She tenderly washes them, nourishes them with her milk and seems captivated by their mere existence.   Out of her love and care they are able to have life and grow.  There is no doubt they know her voice, her scent, her very presence.  It’s just a cat and her kittens yet it somehow reflects us and our Father.  A mere glimpse into “the breadth and length and height and depth…of the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.”  (Ephesians 3:18-19)

Abba, Father.  How deeply He loves us.