“I am relieved to think that the whole story is a sinister fairy tale; life would be miserable if what the faithful affirmed was actually true…. There may be people who wish to live their lives under cradle-to-grave divine supervision, a permanent surveillance and monitoring. But I cannot imagine anything more horrible or grotesque.” – Christopher Hitchens, Letters to a Young Contrarian

In recent years I have become more aware of horrible and grotesque things. Kidnappings, rapes, emotional and physical abuse, child soldiers, child prostitution, massacres, and the list goes on. As a recent Husband, and more recent Dad with a beautiful wife and little baby girl, my awareness of these evils has grown a notch because I never want my family to experience any of them.

All these horrible and grotesque things have one thing in common: they would separate my baby girl from my love, and force her to be intimately familiar with those who hate her. That is the most heart-wrenching aspect for me – that my little baby girl is all alone, helpless and separated from me, while evil is done to her. And for me, I imagine clawing at the walls, losing my mind, desperately searching for her, dying to do anything to rescue her – to restore that lost love.

I think that’s where Christopher Hitchens and I would differ. He’d be right if God were only in the business of surveillance. But God’s in the business of rescuing, and in order to rescue, you have to know where someone is, and you have to know what’s holding them captive.

God’s not like me though – He’s not pacing Heaven’s floor, wearing out the carpet, going mad, in anguish over the loneliness & evil inflicted on His creation. No, He’s infiltrated enemy lines as a baby, and overwhelmed our greatest enemy: Death.

That’s right – Death. Separation. Loneliness. And the cause of death: sin. All defeated. And He proved it when He descended into a grave fully dead, and burst out of it three days later, so alive that to all who believe on Him, He gives the right to be called a child of God.

Like a parent who just had their little daughter kidnapped, God went to battle to rescue me. Sure, He knows all about my shameful past, every little sin, all the ways I’ve been hurt, and all the ways I’ve hurt others. And that’s OK. Because He’s not interested in scolding me – He’s interested in embracing me.

But more than embracing me, He’s interested in transforming my brokenness into wholeness. When Jesus was cut open on that cross, life poured out. And when He took me, a poor, withered, dying branch, and joined me to his pierced side, that river of life started through me. My sickly, diseased branch became firm with life, and that sinfully poisonous fruit fell off, washed away in the river of life. And in their place, He caused sweet, nutritious, juicy and colourful fruit to grow.

Life was horrible and grotesque when I was all alone, separated from the God who made me and loved me. But now that He’s found me, rescued me, and restored me, I’m bursting with the same life and love that flows through His veins. But more importantly, I’m back with the one who loves me. I’m thankful my God’s not just into surveillance. I’m thankful He’s into being a Loving Daddy. Being in His arms is anything but horrible and grotesque.