I hold on to you for dear life, and you hold me steady as a post. Psalm 63:8 MSG

One of my favorite memories from our children’s baby and toddler days were monkey hugs. You know the kind: arms around neck, legs around waist, head on shoulder, and with a grip so tight one could let go and the child would stay exactly where they were. These hugs were dubbed “monkey hugs” because they reminded me of the stuffed monkeys you can find at souvenir shops–the kind with Velcro on their hands and feet and can be attached anywhere.

I used to work at a preschool, so along with experiencing it for myself, I had the pleasure of witnessing the sheer delight on the kids’ faces when their parents began arriving to take them home each day. Their parents would line up outside the classrooms, and one by one the kids would run to them, arms stretched wide, as if it had been three years since they had last seen them rather than three hours. Monkey hugs all around!

Most were joyful hugs, but on occasion there were tearful ones. The emotion of seeing mom or dad after a brief time away, and the relief that, “Oh! I wasn’t forgotten. They came back for me!” Realizing how much they had missed their grown-ups–coupled with being overjoyed to see them again–made for some of the teariest but sweetest of reunions, and the tightest of hugs.

There is, after all, no ulterior motive in a monkey hug. Only the desire for closeness to one’s source of safety in good times and bad.

Such an intense need–a hunger, if you will–for their parents the youngest among us have! Is our Hunger for God that intense? That the mere mention of His name brings light to our eyes and a smile to our faces? At the first sign of delight or distress do we run to Him with arms stretched wide, then hold on to Him for dear life? 

What’s keeping you from that Hunger? Fear that you’ve been forgotten, overlooked, abandoned; left to fend for yourself outside the warmth and protection of the greatest of Hugs? 

He never forgets you! His arms are always open, and when you step into them He’ll “hold you steady as a post.” Every parent on the receiving end of a monkey hug immediately wraps their arms around their child. Not one walked out of that preschool with their own arms swinging while their child held on for dear life! 

God never will leave you hanging either.

Grace and peace to you today, readers. May you go into this day knowing you have a God who has not once forgotten you, and His arms are always open and waiting for you.