9x12”
After coming home from the playground, my husband told me that my 3-year old had been bullied by some older kids. I had a flash of anger, and it turned to hurt. My heart ached. Now this example doesn't begin to compare with what our Heavenly Father experienced, but it brought me perspective. How did our Father feel when His son was crucified? Mocked? Beaten? How does He feel when He sees us, struggling, hurting, and in pain?
I know that our perfect Father has restraint, and I'm so grateful he does. If He stepped in at every hard, bad, or unfair moment, we would not grow. That doesn't mean that he does not wish to, just as I wished I could have been there at the playground that day. God our Father, and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, both sacrificed and fulfilled their obligation to all of mankind. Even though our Heavenly Father remained a witness to the atrocities forced upon His son, His righteous indignation was not held at bay. He felt His emotions and expressed them. He changed the whole face of the earth in the Americas and made the whole earth to tremble. So much so, that even the soldiers who had crucified and mocked Jesus, exclaimed that this “truly was the Son of God”, and that “the God of nature suffers”. Heavenly Father has faith in the plan of Salvation and knows that those who wish, will return home. It was only through the sacrifice of His perfect and Beloved Son that this could be. He knows of sacrifice. He knows of suffering as you watch a loved one hurt. He cares deeply about each of us and wants all of us to return home to Him.