A beautiful story appeared in Guideposts some time back entitled, “The Loving Arms of God” by Marion Bond West. Mrs. West’s husband was undergoing radiation treatment for a brain tumor. Being treated in the same hospital was a frail elderly lady who did not believe in God. Mrs. West felt moved by God to tell this lady, named Thelma, of God’s love. Later God led her to offer Thelma a gift—a shawl. She offered the shawl to Thelma with these words, as she carefully placed it on Thelma’s frail shoulders: “It’s not from me. It’s from God. Now it may look like a shawl, but it’s not…. It’s the arms of God, holding you and loving you.”
The rest of the story tells the transformation that took place in this elderly lady’s life when she came to the realization each time she touched her shawl that she was in the loving arms of God.
Is there any one here this morning who does not need to be reminded that we are in the loving arms of God? We know what it means to be in the arms of another person who loves us. We know the security, the wamrth, the joy. Can you visualize the loving arms of God about you this morning?
Some people cannot. I like the story about an officer in a police helicopter who spotted a car speeding down the Interstate. He radioed his partner on the ground and the patrolman in the car stopped the speeder and began writing a citation. “How in the world did you know I was speeding?” the man asked.
The patrolman didn’t say anything, but pointed skyward. “Do you mean to tell me that He’s turned against me, too?” the man moaned.
For some, the fear of death is translated into a fear of God.
I suspect that there are many persons even within the walls of the church who are not certain that God loves them. We do have illnesses, get old, and eventually die. How do we hold on to our faith in the face of such a world?
St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians reminds us that God is faithful. How can we bring God’s faithfulness alive in human terms? What is a faithful marriage partner like? Perhaps since we are using the analogy of loving arms, we might also use that of human faithfulness.