My daughter was feeling a bit anxious about going back to school after a vacation and a period of illness. I was attempting to console her, to no avail, with comments like, "You’ll do fine. Once you’re in the swing of it you’ll have a great day. Don’t worry. Your friends will all be glad to see you(etc. etc,}." But I only got the same hopeless look from her. I wandered out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, thinking about the situation. I decided to ask myself the question: how did I feel when I was eight and what would I have wanted to hear?
I walked back into my daughters room. "Hey honey, I think I know a little about how you are feeling. When I was eight or so I can remember feeling overwhelmed at going back to school after having the flu. I still wasn’t feeling great and I got to school and I just felt lonely. I wanted my mommy. But as the day went on it got easier and I started to have fun and thats how it will work for you too." My daughter smiled at me and said,"Thats exactly how I feel mommy." She had found rest and comfort- I could see it in her eyes. She went to school the next morning with no problems.
I’m so glad that I have that same comfort with Jesus. I can have overwhelming emotions and He understands! He gets it! I love how Isaiah 53: 3&4 says: He was despised and rejected-a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief …yet it was our sorrows that weighed Him down." What an amazing truth- that my pain: past,present, and future has been felt by God himself. I am not alone in it! Wow! That is the comfort He alone has given.
hey lady, happy birthday today!