When God Ran

An image coasted in from my memory the other day while I was running... well trotting - the image almost immediately reminded me of a song written by Benny Hester:

Almighty God, The Great I Am
Immoveable Rock, Omnipotent powerful
Awesome Lord, Victorious Warrior
Commanding King of Kings
Mighty Conquerer,
And the only time,
the only time I ever saw Him run

Was when He ran to me, Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
And said "My son's come home again".
Looked in my face, wiped the tears from my eyes With forgiveness in His voice
He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"

It caught me by surprise when God ran

It's a great song and a great play on words... Phillips, Craig & Dean re-recorded it a few years
ago.

Here's the image I got:

We were at a company picnic at a little resort -of sorts -called "Turkey Mountain" in northwest Georgia.
Dad had taken me on a pony ride. He led the pony - I rode. As I recall, we went along a path between the go-cart track and the lake. As we reached a point where there were picnic tables Dad needed a breather so he sat at one of the tables.

It was at that point that the pony decided to make a break for freedom!

As a parent now, I can only imagine how my Dad felt when with a bolt the horse was gone and the rider with him!

We determined later - (I did survive the incident) - that the pony was just headed back to the barn. In my memory, we were galloping at extremely high speeds and I was hanging on for dear life. I could remember how to handle the reigns to turn my steed to the left or to the right - but for the life of me, I couldn't remember "stop". Using my limited knowledge I pulled my steed rightward to avoid the oncoming traffic of the go-cart track and then leeward, to avoid the lake.

Meanwhile, Dad was behind me . . . running.

As I have mentioned before, athletics were not a priority with my Dad; it was more important that we have our weekends free for trips to travel to Griffin, Georgia to see my grandparents - than for his children to develop their athletic prowess. Dad did participate in an occasional game of "Short & Long" or "Roll-to-the-Bat", but he just wasn't much for recreational activity.

That is why the image of him running behind me left such an impression on me.

Fortunately, some guy that worked with Dad, came along and stopped the charging mount.

Moments later, Dad raced up - sweating and gasping for air.

That's the image I got: Dad displaying his care and concern by doing something so extraordinary and out of character - just to be sure I was safe.

What a fine thing for a Dad to do.
And what a fine illustration of my heavenly Father's love and deep concern for you and me.