“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.”

-Isaiah 66:13a

This is one of my favorite verses as a mom.  God has shown me repeatedly that in all those dark and sleepless nights that I have spent comforting my children and singing lullabies over them, he has been doing the same for me.

This image of God comforting me the way I have comforted my children is one I can’t fully wrap my head around.  The God of the universe, the Great I Am, loves me and cares for me with the same wholehearted devotion of a Father.  What a privilege to be a child of God!

Just this last weekend, God once again displayed his affectionate love for me.  The events of the weekend played out far differently than I had planned.  My husband, Schad, was supposed to take our two daughters to the Father-Daughter dance on Saturday night, and I was going to have a much needed and highly anticipated girls night with my mom and best friend at the newest sappy romance movie at the theater.

We were all so excited, but just as we were getting the girls’ dresses on, Sydnee, our two year old, came down with the stomach bug.  Our fun night suddenly turned into a night of non-stop vomiting for my little one.  The risk of dehydration and the rate of her decline in strength had me worried.  My poor little girl, who just a few hours prior had been full of life and energy, now couldn’t even hold herself up.

Fear threatened to consume me, but I refused it and prayed for God to give me something firm to hold on to.  Through one of my devotionals he led me to this verse,

“I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.  To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.”

-Hosea 11:4

As I read that verse I thought of the way I had been holding Sydnee all night.  She had this look in her eyes that said, “Mommy, make it better.”  She had never had the stomach flu or even thrown up before, so I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was scared.  I wished so badly that I could take all the pain away and make everything better, but all I could do was hold her close to me and gently kiss her cheek, telling her it would all be okay.

I read the verse again, the next time thinking of the way the Lord was comforting me.  I know he saw that same look of fear in my eyes as I prayed, “Father, please make her better.”  I know he saw that look and heard that prayer because he replied with a verse that depicts him leading me through this with kindness and love.  Peace washed over me as I relished in the peaceful and healing embrace of my Everlasting Father.

How are you feeling today? Tired? Exhausted? Sick? Hungry? Needing to be comforted by the love of the Father?  If so, call on Him.  Let him lead you through this with kindness and love.  Lift your arms to him and allow him to lift you to his cheek as He whispers to your heart that it will all be okay.  He’s got you.  Rest there.

This picture is from May 2013 after Sydnee spent over a week on a ventilator in the Pediatric ICU.  This was the first time I got to hold her after she woke up from the sedation she was under for over a week.  I wanted to share it here because this was one of those times I had that overwhelming desire to take away that look of fear and pain in my baby’s eyes, but it was also one of those times that I was comforted by the peace of God in an amazing way.

I encourage you to check out this song by Steffany Gretzinger as your reflect on the comfort of our Everlasting Father.  It is called “Cecie’s Lullaby.”