God's comfort for our scrapes

A few days ago we went on a family run. Afterwards, Isaac asked if he could "pease" ride his bike. So we unloaded the jogger in the driveway and gave the boys a few minutes to push their bikes around while Scrubs caught the Frisbee.

At some point, Isaac fell and scraped his knee. It was bleeding almost immediately. I remember my little boy looking up at me and then JB with shock on his face. He then ran to JB, tears filling up his little blue eyes with his arms outstretched. John quickly scooped him up and held him in his arms as Isaac's tears eventually lessened. John's face was sad. He felt bad that his little boy was hurting. He wanted to make it better. But other than some kisses and maybe some Neosporin, he couldn't change the pain that had been inflicted.

In that moment, I saw God.

John did not cause Isaac to scrape his knee. He would have preferred wholeheartedly that it had not happened. But once it did happen, he was right there to hold his little boy. To grieve the pain with him. And in the end, something good would come of Isaac's scraped up knee. He would understand what happens when you aren't careful while playing on pavement. He would be wiser the next time and hopefully avoid the pain that was coming from his little body.

When I was going through infertility, I clung to one promise. I remembered Romans 8:28 ... "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Did God want me to go through infertility? No. Sin was in the world as a result, bad things happened to people. But while I was going through it he was holding me. He was blowing on my scraped up knee. He was putting Neosporin and a bandage on it and allowing me to cry in his arms.

My friend Nancy, our table leader at MOPs, is watching her father battle ALS. I cannot, possibly, fathom, the depth of pain and grief that is associated with watching someone you love live with this disease. I can understand grief. I can understand sadness. I can understand life not going the way you thought it would. And in that, I feel like I can relate to what Nancy is going through even though I can't come close to understanding it precisely.

When Isaac fell down that day, I pictured Nancy's father. I have never met him, but I know Nancy, and I can only imagine the sweet man who would help to raise such a beautiful hearted daughter. Nancy is quiet and sincere. She listens when you speak and takes the time to think of others and how they feel. She would meet me at the nursery to see if I needed help getting my two little boys into class. I am sure many of these characteristics were inherited from this man.

I pictured the Lord scooping Nancy's Dad into his arms. He did not want him to be living with ALS. And while I can't understand why Nancy's father is having to go through this, I do remember the Lord's promises. "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

In the case of Isaac, the scrape would remind him how to be more careful in the future. In the case of our infertility, that journey did so many good things for me. I could spend all day listing the positive things that came with it. However, despite so much positive, the grief and tears that were shed during those five years, cannot be measured. It was an incredibly sad time for JB and myself. Lots of crying. Lots of working with everything we had in us to not let it tear our marriage into shreds. Lots of questions and pain.

Lots of sitting in the Lord's arms.

I know that is where Nancy's Dad is right now. The Lord is holding him. The Lord is comforting him. He's holding Nancy and her mom and their entire family in his arms. And He will use this disease, a disease that sin brought into the world, for His glory.

I pray that if you are dealing with something like Nancy and her father, that the Lord wraps you in His arms today. And please, if you think of it, say a prayer for their family today. That the Lord would hold them even tighter in his strong arms and encourage them through this difficult journey.

Amen.