Out of Hiding- God is MY Loving Father

I just tried thinking of a portion of this song just to copy and paste here but I literally just couldn't delete any portion of the song, every line is a song in itself. So instead, I'll post the lyric video then go on a little spiel (idk how to spell that but I'm trying to say "schpeel")

I've had this song hiding (ha) in one of my 18 hour playlists and haven't listened to it in awhile. I sleep with headphones in because it helps me sleep and my roommate sleep talks (sometimes yells) in German and that's something I don't want to wake up to at 3am. So this morning as I gracefully shot my eyes open, I heard Steffany's sweet voice singing this incredible melody and remembered how much I love this song. I've had it on repeat since. This will probably be short since this song always leaves me speechless musically and lyrically. I love how its written from God's perspective.

Sometimes I forget who God really is and start thinking of Him as a big dude on a cloud who shakes his finger at me every time I do something stupid (that's a lot). But God is kind, and He's a good Father who is careful and attentive to his children (*insert Chris Tomlin here*). He created us with that same care and attentiveness. God is first a Father, not a distant figure that reprimands us, or a "Cosmic Cop" as Rick puts it.

My relationship with my dad, well, most of you know. It isn't that great. One day we're arguing and he won't talk to me, the next he acts like nothing happened. I don't like being at home, I feel like I just can't be myself around my parents, so it doesn't feel like "home" if you know what I'm saying. So fatherly love and the idea of home have been some things I've been struggling with and learning about in this past year.

God is a Father who longs to scoop us up into His arms and love us so hard that we won't turn away. Sometimes I forget my identity as His son and forget that His love is one that is of a Father. 1 John 3:1 says "See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!" (NLT). God can't stop loving us, because His love is based on WHO HE IS and not what we've done. It's His character, not our conduct.

We all have a hiding place, some type of insecurity. This song makes me think of God chasing after one of his children who's run away and started to judge themselves from a distance. I feel like I've done that recently. But the more I let myself be loved by Him, the more I began to let Him into my heart, my hiding place, my place of insecurity, the more I realize how kind He really is. "God is our shelter and our strength. When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and He's ready to help. So why run and hide?" (Psalm 46:1).

Being in college, its easy to get the sense that you're independent, that you can do things on your own (yeah! adulting!). In the past few weeks, I've seen this independence start to leak a little into my relationship with God, telling Him, hey, I'm an adult now, I have things under control. But I've been learning that this is really just an insecurity. I love being able to control personal outcomes, such as what my job is, where it's gonna be and etc. But maybe I need to get to a place where that insecurity doesn't live inside me. The more I begin to let Him unwind me, the more I feel like his son and can sing the words of my Father, feel the tenderness in each word and know that He means it.

My earthly home is a broken home. My relationship with my earthly father is a broken one. But in God, I've found a Father. I've found someone I can throw off my fear and go running to. Have I fully let go of my insecurity? Probably not. But I know that as I slowly loosen my grip on my insecurities, I'll fall into His arms, my home.

Baby, you're almost home now Please don't quit now You're almost home to Me