A Vulnerable God

I had a strange experience the other day. We were sitting in a meeting, quietly waiting on God in prayer. At first, as I was listening for God's voice, I heard nothing. Then one word began impressing itself on me, the word "Father."

I had been thinking recently of my human father, who was killed when I was a child, but this "Father" seemed to refer to God instead. As the repetition of the word became more insistent, I saw a figure that was God, standing at a distance. He began moving closer to me and as He came, I felt our relationship changing, becoming more intimate. He became for me more familiar as He drew nearer, and more vulnerable.

That's the strange thought. That God would be vulnerable.

Is He?

I think so. Love makes a person vulnerable because love involves risk. Love is dangerous to the lover. At least the kind of love God has for us—free and unconditional. He takes a chance that we will not respond to His love. He risks being hurt, deeply. The deeper the love, the deeper the potential hurt, and the greater the risk he takes.

A vulnerable God. An awesome thought.

Is this a model for the way we should love? Are we willing to give our love wholeheartedly, unconditionally to another, aware of the risk, and willing to take it. For the sake of love?