A dad stops what he is doing to bend down and really listen to his child. It’s not that the dad doesn’t have other things on his mind; he certainly does. This dad is making a statement: My child is important. I may have the positional power and persuasion of a parent, but I will stoop down to my child’s level because I love this kid. I want to look into my child’s eyes and really listen.
This is a picture of our heavenly Daddy.
Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath! (Psalm 116:2, New Living Translation)
He loves us so much that he makes us his priority. He bends down. He cares. He listens. He acts.
I love this imagery, this personification of God. He is the Creator of the Universe, all-powerful, all-knowing, the Alpha and the Omega, and he bends down to look his precious child in the eyes and listen attentively. (The New International Version translates the phrase as “he turned his ear to me,” which is not nearly as picturesque; the Revised Standard Version and others translate it as “he inclined his ear to me,” which pictures God bending over to listen, either because he cares enough for me to do so or because my voice is so weak that he must — or both!)
This is exactly what the Father did when he sent Jesus down to us. He humbly stooped down to our level so he could look us in the eyes and feel our pain. He stooped down to wash his follower’s feet. He stooped down to serve us, especially in the ultimate act of service and self-sacrifice when he took on our sins as if they were his own and died on the cross so we could be forgiven.
God the Father stoops down to us. We don’t–we can’t–reach up to him by our own wisdom and work. I’ll come back to this thought tomorrow … because God’s stooping down to us requires something from us, and it’s not working harder or trying to measure up. It’s something so easy and yet it’s something so many of us have so much trouble doing.
For today, just pray, knowing that your Daddy is stooping down to you. He’s listening.
