“Touch”

“TOUCH!” I heard as the small hand of a child collided with my, admittedly, very sweaty back. I swung around & was greeted with the dispersion of a gaggle of laughing children— all sprinting from one very imminent danger, me.

“Touch” — the adaption of ‘tag’ that the Swazi children play. Dubbed by their limited understanding of the English language, it’s the only time any of them want any form of space from me or anyone on my team.

As the game came to a close I plopped to the hot ground & was immediately greeted with hands, equally sweaty & sticky, excitedly pulling out my braids & playing with my hair.

Sometimes, the children are still in our company. Not speaking a word, just soaking in our presences.

Sometimes, they sit on our laps, desperately trying to get closer to us.

That evening as all 10 of us piled into our van for the bumpy drive home, God brought John 15:12-13 to my mind. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

But how does Jesus love us? With some form of begrudged obligation?

No.

He delights in us. He doesn’t just love us, he “lavishes his love upon us”. He chooses us over & over. He is pleased with us.

What have we done to elicit this?

Nothing.

His mercy is relentless. It is not calculating and cautious, like ours. It is unrestrained, flood-like, sweeping, magnanimous.

He rests in us.

We are something he enjoys.

God has given me & my team the opportunity to love 200+ Swazi children daily. By all worldly standards, these children have nothing to offer us. So why do we love them? Because the Spirit of the living God dwells within us, shaping our desires to look like Jesus, & transforming us to love like Jesus. Just as we find joy in sweeping up a dirty, snotty child that has done nothing but whine, God loves to sweep each of us into his arms & comfort us after we’ve done nothing to draw him to us, & everything to separate us from him. Just as the children are happy to abide in our presence, we should abide in the love of our Father. Just as these children frantically try to get closer to us, we should always be wanting more closeness with our Father.

Although my heart bursts with love for each of them, how much more does our Father love them? How much more does he love me? How much more does he love all of us? His love is perfect, & he’s given us access to it. Romans 5:5 says “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” He sustains us with joy in our weakness. When we’re too tired to continue playing ‘touch’. When we’re too hot to fall asleep. When we’re hungry— he sustains us with his love so we can love like him.