Never Alone
“I will never leave you nor forsake you”—Hebrews 13:5a
Last night I put my four-and-a-half daughter to bed. It was late and she was tired after a long day. Her mother and her brother flew to Florida to see grandparents earlier that morning, leaving her sister and myself to survive without their Mommy for the next several days. Like any four-and-a-half year old girl, she loves her Mommy and misses her, especially at bedtime. As I tucked her into bed for the night and started to sing her a song, she started to cry—and no, not because of my voice. She started to cry because she missed her Mommy. I tried to console her, let her know that Mommy would be home in just a few days and that we would have a lot of fun time together. And while that idea seemed fun, it didn’t help her in the “now.” She wanted her Mommy to sing and there wasn’t much I could do about it. My voice wasn’t my wife’s no matter how hard I tried.
As she laid her head back in her pillow, her face wet with tears, her hair all disheveled and mused, and the rambling painful echo of, “I want Mommy” in my ears, I placed my hand on her head, moved her hair back from her face and whispered to her, “Honey, I want to share something with you.” As she tried to catch her breath and hold the tears back she said, “What?” I said, “God says in His word, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ Which means that no matter where Mommy or Daddy goes, He goes with you. He will never, ever leave you alone.” She said, “Really?” I replied, “Yes, honey, He will never leave you, nor forsake you.” She thought for a moment, and then preceded to cry again, “I want Mommy!” God didn’t seem too real to her as Mommy did. I did eventually manage to quiet her down and get her to sleep, but I continued to think about the words from Hebrews 13:5 and how much we are like little children. We want what we can see, feel, and touch. But God calls us to walk by faith and not by sight. He wants us to understand that He is there with us, although we may not see Him. He wants us to know that no matter what we go through He is there.
The Psalmist understood the promise and surety of God’s presence when he wrote, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me”—Psalm 23:4. He is with us. He knows us better than anyone else does. He sees our tears and put them in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). If you are a believer in Christ, then know that God is with you; even though do not see Him. Through His word He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us—no matter what. Amen.
Last night I put my four-and-a-half daughter to bed. It was late and she was tired after a long day. Her mother and her brother flew to Florida to see grandparents earlier that morning, leaving her sister and myself to survive without their Mommy for the next several days. Like any four-and-a-half year old girl, she loves her Mommy and misses her, especially at bedtime. As I tucked her into bed for the night and started to sing her a song, she started to cry—and no, not because of my voice. She started to cry because she missed her Mommy. I tried to console her, let her know that Mommy would be home in just a few days and that we would have a lot of fun time together. And while that idea seemed fun, it didn’t help her in the “now.” She wanted her Mommy to sing and there wasn’t much I could do about it. My voice wasn’t my wife’s no matter how hard I tried.
As she laid her head back in her pillow, her face wet with tears, her hair all disheveled and mused, and the rambling painful echo of, “I want Mommy” in my ears, I placed my hand on her head, moved her hair back from her face and whispered to her, “Honey, I want to share something with you.” As she tried to catch her breath and hold the tears back she said, “What?” I said, “God says in His word, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ Which means that no matter where Mommy or Daddy goes, He goes with you. He will never, ever leave you alone.” She said, “Really?” I replied, “Yes, honey, He will never leave you, nor forsake you.” She thought for a moment, and then preceded to cry again, “I want Mommy!” God didn’t seem too real to her as Mommy did. I did eventually manage to quiet her down and get her to sleep, but I continued to think about the words from Hebrews 13:5 and how much we are like little children. We want what we can see, feel, and touch. But God calls us to walk by faith and not by sight. He wants us to understand that He is there with us, although we may not see Him. He wants us to know that no matter what we go through He is there.
The Psalmist understood the promise and surety of God’s presence when he wrote, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me”—Psalm 23:4. He is with us. He knows us better than anyone else does. He sees our tears and put them in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). If you are a believer in Christ, then know that God is with you; even though do not see Him. Through His word He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us—no matter what. Amen.
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