“And Lo, I Am With You…”

A Little Story to Remind Us of God’s Promise:

On Saturday I took the kids to Centennial Park to play in the fountains.  Being that we’re right in the middle of the city, it’s become a summer staple for us.  This time was Savannah’s first time.

***Side Note: My baby is 18  months old and has only been walking for about a month (being the last one, she got carried a lot).  What’s funny though is that she went straight from crawling to running. The feet get going, even if the mind has not yet figured out where to go.  She’s so happy to have discovered this new feature of her body, she’ll often just walk in circles for no good reason!  It’s really cute :-)***

Back to the story:

Since this summer has been one of the hottest I can remember, the fountains were PACKED! There were children everywhere!!  Some in bathing suits, some fully clothed.  In 90 degree weather, you could care less about what you’re wearing, because you’ll be dry in 10 minutes anyway.  Even adults were taking the occasional stroll through the cool water-clothes and all.

Well I’m there by myself with my teenage niece (who’s too cool to get wet, and is sitting on the stone bleachers outlying the park) and 4 out of our 5 kids.  Since the next to youngest (EZ) was with Shaun, my only major priority was Savannah. She’s running, and the spontaneously rising water doesn’t scare her one bit!  She weaves in and out of the gleefully screaming children (big and small) and water with reckless abandon, and I’m behind her every step of the way.  It meant that I quickly became drenched from head to toe, but thanks to the natural hair and all black jumper I was wearing, it didn’t matter at all.  All that mattered was keeping my 18 month old out of harms way.

Savannah is clumsily sauntering in and out of the water, refusing to let me hold her hand.  She is in the midst of chaos and is determined to manage it on her own.  As a matter of fact, she’s not even aware of all of the dangers: bigger kids running her over, falling and scraping her knees, inhaling a nose full of water, etc.  But although she doesn’t know she needs it, I’m behind her, mirroring each step, anticipating every pitfall.  At times I can see that she is in over  her head, and can’t see through the water she’s passing through, so I reach out my hand to her and touch her shoulder just to remind her that I’m there…everything is alright…she is not alone.

As I’m following her obsessively, I suddenly have an epiphany:

This is how God treats and feels about us.  I have a vision of  us running through raging waters, and God following, chasing after us every step of the way.

How often do we go through life handling it all on our own, determined to make our own way, oblivious to God’s watchfullness and protection?  We rush from task to task, decision to decision forgetting that we’re not alone.  Even if we can’t see Him or always feel His presence, God is always there. He knows when to intervene and when to pull back.  He allows us the freedom to make our own way- to walk and to run in the direction we choose.  But His hand is ever ready-ever ready to lead, guide, protect, and comfort when we’ve gone too far, done too much, and find ourselves bruised and hurt.  Like a loving parent, He never leaves our side.  Every now and then, particularly through the darkest times, God will reach out a hand to remind us He’s there.

It’s simple enough really.  But it was also profound enough to stop me in my tracks.  I imagine I looked like a bit of a weirdo staring off into space in the middle of the fountains as I envisioned all of this.  The holy spirit knew I needed this reminder though.  And I thought I’d share it with you in case you needed it too! No matter what you’re going through, don’t think God has forgotten or has left you alone.

Acknowledge Him.

Accept His helping hand.

His word is still true: “…and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20.

He’s been with you all along!