Early one morning this week, or rather middle of the night, I was just about to drift off to sleep when my son came walking down the hall toward our bedroom. He was afraid of something. I do not know what and I am not sure he did either. After all, he was half-asleep at the time. As quickly as I could, I jumped out of bed and went over to him. His cries and whimpers of “Daddy, I’m scared” were the only call I needed. Those words spoke loudly even though he spoke them softly. I took him back to his room and laid down beside him until he was back asleep. As I lay there with him, I could not help but think of Psalm 46:1 which says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”.

No matter how hard I try or how many times I comfort my children, I have limitations. I was made in God’s image, but I am not God. And that’s a good thing. As I meditated on Psalm 46, the contrast between God and myself became overwhelming. I won’t belabor the many ways, but here are a few that entered my head:

1) I knew my son needed me only after I heard his voice, but God knows our need even before we know we need Him.

          Matthew 6:8b “…for your Father knows what you need before you ask him”.

2) I eventually went back to bed, but God is always with us.

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

3) I cannot perfectly comfort my children at all times, but God is a God of all comfort.

1 Corinthians 1: 3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

4) I will eventually pass from this body, but God is eternal.

Psalm 90:2 “…Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God”.

Nevertheless, none of these differences seemed to matter to my son that night. Why? I would like to think it is because he knows that he is my son and I am his father. That truth is all he needed. We, as sons and daughters of the Great Father should find comfort as well in this same truth. We, like David, should be able to lay down and sleep without fear knowing that the Lord sustains us (Psalm 3:5). We, like Jeremiah, can know that He comes near as we cry out to him and he answers, “Do not fear!” (Lamentations 3:57) And we, like Paul, should find solace in knowing that we “have received the Spirit of adoption as sons so that we can cry “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)

You see, the only thing my son needed was to know that his father was there with him. My very presence was comfort enough for him to rest again. He knew he could call out to me. Praise God for adopting us into his family through the blood of his own Son, Jesus Christ, so that we can look to Him who sits on the throne and intercedes for us even when we don’t know what to cry.

Only by Grace,

Josh