Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

TAKING A CHANCE Poet James Weldon Johnson clearly saw the loneliness of God. God was almighty, yet He longed to have fellowship with a creature made in His image. In creating man, God took the greatest gamble in the universe. But God's desire for companionship drove Him to take the risk. Johnson says in his poem, "The Creation," that after God spoke the worlds into existence: God said: I'm lonely still. Then God sat down-- On the side of a hill where He could think: By a deep, wide river He sat down; With His head in His hands, God thought and thought, Till He thought; I'll make Me a man! Man would bring God either great happiness or deep sorrow. As we hold a newborn baby in our arms, we realize that child has the ability to bring us great joy or deep sorrow. He has the power to make us extremely proud or desperately embarrassed. In like manner, when God created man and breathed life into him, God exposed Himself to the possibility of being deeply hurt. Yet He loved and took the chance. There is always risk in reaching out. Marriage is taking a chance. Faith is believing that the chance is worth it and that a loving God will guide us as we create a new home. Love is acting on that faith.