The Father Runs Before You Speak

The service ended, the lights came up, and someone asked how you are. You said 'blessed' because that is the word expected, the mask that fits.

But inside, you are trembling. The silence of your room tonight feels heavy with the lie you just told.

You are not failing the light by admitting you are not okay. There is a father who saw his son coming home from a long way off — before the apology, before the speech, he ran.

He did not wait for the performance to end. He ran to the mess.

God's love is not waiting for you to get your story straight. It is already inside you, shining in the dark where no one else can see.

You do not have to perform peace to possess it. The light does not need your mask; it needs your honesty.

The truth you are hiding is the very thing the light is holding right now.