SAMANTHA ELLEY writes about how God is always there for us – especially when we need Him most…
Northern Rivers, New South Wales, Australia
PICTURE: Jenna Norman/Unsplash
“I spread out my hands to you;
I thirst for you like a parched land.” – Psalm 143:6
When my younger son was preschool age, we owned a small sandwich shop. My husband Mark, would run it through the week and I would do the weekend shifts.
One day we were short-staffed and Mark asked if I could come in and help for a couple of hours. I was unable to get a babysitter so our son had to come with me.
“The comforting thing is, God is never far from us. At our worst times, He is there to comfort us as we need it. If we, as fallible humans, can drop a butter knife to rush to our children, how much more will our Father in Heaven be there for us?”
He was entertained for a short while with an ice-cream (we sold them in the shop) while I made sandwiches, coffees and smoothies during the lunch rush.
However, it wasn’t long before he started calling for me and trying to get my attention.
The shop was getting crowded and I couldn’t give him the attention he wanted in that instant. Then he used the only weapon he had in his toddler arsenal to get my attention. He burst into huge, heart-wrenching sobs and stretched out his chubby little arms to me so he’d get picked up.
I dropped everything. I grabbed him and hugged him tightly, soothing his aching little heart, feeling like the worst mother. I sat in a chair and comforted him until his sobbing subsided. The customers were very understanding, especially the mums.
This is how I have become sometimes in my life when times are tough and God seems distant or as distracted as I was making sandwiches. I have felt I had no other option than to cry out to God from the depths of my anguish.
The comforting thing is, God is never far from us. At our worst times, He is there to comfort us as we need it. If we, as fallible humans, can drop a butter knife to rush to our children, how much more will our Father in Heaven be there for us?
I have a number of pot plants on my back deck and when my green thumb is in high gear, they get well-watered and flourish beautifully. If, however, I am distracted by other activities and they get neglected, it becomes a very sad sight in a brown, shrivelled up kind of way.
Just like my pot plants, I start to feel it when I haven’t spent time with God or not given Him the best of me. Just as we need to drink water to hydrate our bodies, we need time with God to hydrate our souls.
Not just a passing prayer or nod (although the Bible does tell us to pray continually), but a good quality drenching when we are at our most alert.
Our Father in Heaven has given us the best of Him, through Jesus His Son. He deserves no less from us.
