Fierce Love

“Mommy, come outside and see the baby bird in the rose bush!”

My ten-year-old daughter was thrilled to discover a baby cardinal, camouflaged carefully inside our backyard rose bush. Out I came, camera in hand, whispering so as not to scare the young chick.

As we approached the bush, however, the apparent parents of the fledgling swooped down to rescue their child from the giant humans who threatened it’s safety, as far as they could tell. We stepped away, hoping to convey to the frightened parents that we intended no harm. They quickly wrestled their way into the center of the bush to be near their baby.

It was thrilling and quite telling of God’s grand design in creation to see such fierce and protective love by these birds.

God’s fierce, protective love for us is also revealed in His creation.

Moments later, we discovered the real threat… our cat! She had discovered the baby bird’s hiding place, and was crouching in the tree nearby to pounce at any moment. While their little one chirped out in fear, his parents’ conversation grew louder and more agitated. Every moment counted as they planned their getaway.

My daughter stepped close to the bush again, and the terrified little bird jumped right out of his nest! He spiraled to the ground in hopelessness, not realizing his parents were nearby and ready to rescue him.  Now time was up, and his life certainly in danger.

What transpired next was truly an incredible sight: The adult birds, like two red streaks of Blue Angel fighter jets, dive-bombed their way to the ground to rescue their baby. They jointly picked up their little one with their claws, and flew away with it to the safety of a nearby tree.

What they couldn’t do alone, they accomplished together… now that’s God’s magnificent design!

They risked their own lives to save their child, as any good parent would. In our world today, most parents love and protect their children. Sadly, there are exceptions to that rule, and we cringe when we witness or hear of the evils that exist. But, even the best parents are still human, and therefore, imperfect.

[bctt tweet=”God is the only perfect Parent: He loves us perfectly & always knows & does what is best for His children & all of creation.” username=”becky_wright”]

Isaiah 49:15 reminds us of this compelling truth:

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you.” 

God the Father promised His children that He would never leave us (temporarily) or forsake us (permanently).  How many earthly parents could make  that promise??  Hebrews 13:5 says:  

“Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, He has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.”

God’s love for us is immeasurably greater than we can imagine. Matthew 10:29 portrayed it this way:

 ^“Aren’t two sparrows sold for a small coin? But not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father knowing about it already.”

Two years ago today, our oldest son took his own life. He was a devoted Christian, and a youth minister who led hundreds of teenagers to faith in Christ. Yet he suffered from an often silent killer: clinical depression. Untreated and unknown to the rest of us (we lived six hours apart), he succumbed to the hopeless agony that depression blankets over a soul under its grip. Sometimes they’ll “jump from the nest”, not realizing that help and hope are available.

Amid our ongoing grief as a family, we know that our son is with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whom he loved– and Who (still) loves our son. A mental/emotional illness is just as real as a physical/ visible ailment. But neither “disqualifies” one from being loved and welcomed by our Heavenly Father, through faith in His son, our merciful Redeemer, Jesus.

When my father dropped dead of unknown heart issues in 2009, we didn’t blame him for a physical malady he could not heal. When my sister Elizabeth drowned in 2004, saving her son from drowning, we didn’t blame her for trying to save her child. Her “fierce love” for her child left her no choice. And even though her son disobeyed by getting in the water, her love didn’t change, and her decision to save him didn’t waver. He was her child. Nothing could change that.

The Spirit of God inspired the Apostle Paul to pen these powerful words in Romans Chapter 8:

“So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Won’t he also freely give us all things with him? ³³ Who will bring a charge against God’s elect people? It is God who acquits them. ³⁴ Who is going to convict them? It is Christ Jesus who died, even more, who was raised, and who also is at God’s right side. It is Christ Jesus who also pleads our case for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from Christ’s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  ³⁷ But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. ³⁸ I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers ³⁹ or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.”

That’s a “fierce love”. Lord, help me to love others like You love us!

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