Walking The Floor Over Us

Remember that newborn you were holding last time we talked? Don’t put him down. Hang on tight, and let’s zoom ahead about five months. Now, that precious little angel is teething, and you have forgotten what a full night’s sleep felt like. There’s drool on everything. You’ve gained a new appreciation for pacifiers and teething rings; and you're certain that baby ora-gel is a miracle drug.

But sometimes, none of those things help. You rock him. You talk to him. You pat him. You bounce him. You sing to him. You swing him. No change. If anything, the pitch of his screams hits a new octave. Only now, on top of being in pain, he’s mad at you. After all, your supposed to make the pain stop. He’s too little to grasp the fact that you’re not causing his pain. He can’t understand that the pain is worth it, because it will eventually result in a mouth full of teeth.

While you’re in the midst of his pain--walking the floor with him and wishing, to the core of your being, that you could take his pain into your body–would you ever drop him like a hot potato? Do his tears anger you? Of course not! Even his anger doesn’t anger you, because you understand that all he can focus on is the pain that he’s in. Even if you put him in his crib briefly, you still linger nearby--close enough touch him, still striving to soothe him. Even on those difficult nights when sleep comes from crying to the point of exhaustion, not from finding relief, you don’t let go. And when the tooth finally comes in, you rejoice for him! More than that, when they’ve all come in, and those growing pains are forever in the past, you find yourself grateful that he will be able to enjoy having teeth, without remembering the pain that he endured to get them...

Now, imagine that you are the screaming infant, and Your caring parent is our prefect God–our Abba. When we’re in the midst of a long ordeal, we lose sight of everything except our pain; and we tend to blame the one who is best equipped to comfort us.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. ---Psalm 91:2

God doesn’t get angry with us, even though He gets the blame for what The Devil pulls.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour---1 Peter 5:8

God doesn’t give up. He doesn’t let go. Our tears don’t go unnoticed. Our prayers don’t go unheard. Our anger doesn’t drive him away. We might not always notice His Presence, but He’s still there, trying to sing over our screams.For this and more Jesus pictures...

Even though we sometimes feel lonely–and sometimes cry ourselves to sleep–we are never alone.

and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
--- Matthew 28:20b

Every brand of pain we can ever feel, Christ faced it too; so in truth, we never face any agony alone.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
---Isaiah 53:4--5

Our Abba holds on, because He knows that–while it won’t be a mouth full of teeth–He will bring some good, some growth, out of what The Devil meant only for pain and evil.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
---Romans 8:28

The only difference in us and that screaming infant? In the midst of our victory, we can recall the pain that we endured to get there. Why? So that we can carry forward the lessons we’ve learned, and so that our victorious, God-glorifying testimony is complete...