John Parker: God has something akin to Ferrai fever

Last week I read in Automobile Magazine about the first Ferrari imported to America for retail sale. The model was a 250 Europa Vignale. The year was 1954.

After years of financial struggle here in the United States, Ferrari finally caught on with wealthy customers and collectors. Last year at auction in Monterey, that first Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale was purchased for $2.8 million by Tom Peck Jr. And it was a bargain compared to another Ferrari that sold for $38 million!

Peck says, “Since the Vignale coupe, I’ve bought a few more Ferraris, and I like the early ones better. The early cars show you how things work, and I think this brings you closer to what a Ferrari is all about” (Automobile Magazine).

Although I haven’t invested in a Ferrari lately, ever since I was an elementary school boy I have liked looking at and reading about high-end luxury road and race cars. The intricacy with which they are made and the history behind them is very engaging.

This brings me to the joy I felt the other day as I was visiting with the Lord and he said to me that he likes looking at us with the same joy and interest that I have when studying those classic and exotic cars. I instantly understood and was excited to think that he likes us that much.

The truth is that he likes us infinitely more. David explains it best when he writes in the Bible, “You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Your thoughts – how rare, how beautiful! God, I’ll never comprehend them! I couldn’t even begin to count them – any more than I could count the sand of the sea” (Psalm 139:12-18).

Initially, we may not be thrilled that God is paying attention to us. We may even feel stalked and want nothing to do with him. To have someone interested in us that we don’t know or trust can be unnerving.

But after enough hard knocks and disappointments in this life, some of us start thinking that it’s nice to have a friend in God. After all he never yells, interrupts or forces us in the ways we sometimes experience with other people and situations. In fact, it may seep into our hearts that he really loves us, knows how we tick, and wants to support us in every and any way we will let him.

That’s when having a God that is interested, intrigued, loving and encouraging toward us, becomes a great thing. We begin to feel safe with him and not in trouble.

We begin to believe that “God is Love,” and in the “God of Peace,” and that he is indeed, the “God of All Comfort.” It dawns on us that we are way more valuable and collectable than the any Ferrari on earth, even the $38 million ones. Such loving truth penetrates to the core of our being to begin healing us in every way.

This story was originally published October 21, 2014 at 6:14 PM with the headline "John Parker: God has something akin to Ferrai fever."