He was born into a missionary family, a home where one would think he might learn the love of God.  Instead, his strict and demanding father taught him that faith is about performance.

He would hear the cannibalistic tribesmen discuss whether they would kill his parents.  His understandable youthful response was to create emotional distance from parents he wasn’t sure would always be there.

He went to a Christian boarding school for missionary kids, where he should have received nurture and support.  Instead, the sexual abuse that had started in the tribe continued.

For four decades of his life, he lived with a distorted view of God – afraid of God, certain that his performance never measured up, maintaining a safe distance.

Then came an eleven-year span in his life where he dealt with the pain head on, and learned that what God longs to get through to us is this:  “I just want you to be with me and discover that our relationship is not about performance or having you please me.”  (The Shack, p. 126).  William P. Young, author of The Shack, told a church audience recently in Oregon that his book is really about recovering a relationship with a personal God.

Read 2 Samuel 9 for a parallel story about a man named Mephibosheth.  He spent most of his early life running from and hiding from King David, only to find out that David loved him all along and wanted Mephibosheth around his table, enjoying friendship, confidence, and provision.