With Arms Wide Open

For those of you who do not know, Windy Gap is a Young Life camp in Weaverville, North Carolina… right outside Asheville.

Windy Gap is my home away from home. I’ve been coming here since I was about five months old. Chris Cockerham said that he thinks God probably spent more time creating Windy Gap. I completely agree.

Windy Gap weekends always seem to come at the perfect time. Whether it’s a hard day, a hard week, or a hard month, Windy Gap seems to know in advance, and invites me to come and take a load off.

This weekend I’m up here with the freshman Young Life leaders from the Greater Raleigh Area. It’s family camp weekend, and we’re all babysitting. This means we spend about half an hour with kids twice a day, and use the rest of our time relaxing, getting to know each other, and, for some of us, studying.

It’s been a long past few weeks for me. I’ve known this weekend was coming, but waited until the last minute to actually commit to coming. There were other possible options for this weekend, but seeing as none of them worked out, I’m here.
And that may sound like I put Windy Gap on the bottom of my list. . . a sort of “Weelllll, if nothing else works out, I guess I’ll go,” kind of thing. And I guess it was. But the great thing about Windy Gap is that it doesn’t demand your presence. It waits for you with open arms. Windy Gap doesn’t say “you have to come here, or your weekend will be terrible.” Windy Gap says “Come here when your weekend will be terrible otherwise.”

I think that God is like this. He doesn’t demand our relationship, but he’s there for it. He knows that our lives are terrible without him. Through his son Jesus he has opened his arms wide and says “Come here so your life won’t be terrible otherwise.” God cares for us in a Windy Gap way. . . times a thousand. 

Just as Windy Gap sits here waiting for to come, God waits for us. I think it must be a painful thing for him watch: his sons and daughters separated from him by their Sin, running around without a thought of him. But the Father is eternal, and eternally patient.
I once heard Chris separate the Bible into three parts. The first consisted of about two pages. God created the heavens and the earth, plants, animals, light, dark, and finally, humans. When he created humans he created us to be in everlasting communion with him.
The second part is only about a page long. The Fall of Man. Adam and Eve eat from a tree, and the human race is separated from God.
The third part is my favorite part. It’s the rest of the Bible: God’s pursuit of us. Page after page speaks of God’s work in the world, through his spirit, through prophets, and through his words and creation. Reading through the Old Testament humbles me.

Why, after turning our backs on him, would he pursue us in this way? If He were human, he should hold us contempt. After all, we betrayed him. But he never does. He constantly loves. He makes attempt after attempt to bring us, his Bride, home. Then, after years of pursuit, God makes the big move. He sends his son, God in flesh, to die on a tree for the sin of the world. 

I wish I could pursue everyone this passionately. I love relationships. They’re my favorite things in the world. But I say this as I type alone on my laptop, completely unsocial.

I want to pursue people with arms wide open. Who knows how long it might take them to come, or me to get there, but it’s sure worth the journey.