Hungry for God; Starving for Time
“Giiiiiiiiii gi!”
My two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter’s frightened cry pierced the happy quiet of my backyard.
Moments before, she’d been playing peacefully. Now she was racing toward me, her eyes wide with fear.
Kneeling down, I opened my arms, and she flung herself into them, her breath coming in short, hard gasps.
“What’s wrong, baby girl?” I asked, looking around for a big dog or a scary snake.
“Airplane,” she said, pointing to the sky.
Sure enough, there was a jet, high in the sky, making its noisy ascent from the nearby airport.
“That airplane won’t hurt you,” I said, wrapping my arms around her trembling little body, “but you did good to come to Gigi. Gigi will always protect you.”
This morning in my quiet time I read Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”
It reminded me of the way Lauren ran to me when the airplane frightened her. Because she’s learned to trust me, she instinctively knew I would protect her. Her child-like faith rested securely in me.
I want to be like Lauren when big, scary things disrupt my life and make me afraid. Only instead of running to a person for protection, I want to run straight into the loving arms of my heavenly Father. I know I can trust him, because he’s demonstrated over and over again how much he loves me.
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
I love Lauren, and I would die to save her. God loves me even more, and he already died to save me. What further proof do I need that I can trust him with whatever comes my way?
Although 50 years separate Lauren and me, we’re a lot alike. We are both frightened easily, but we also both know where to run for safety.
What about you? Is something big and scary threatening you today? Run to Jesus.
I'd hear the scream first, then the sound of her feet racing toward my bedroom. Almost every night for a week my 3-year-old daughter had awakened screaming from a nightmare.
She'd race across the hall to our bedroom and fling herself upon me with eyes wide with terror and heart beating out of her chest. It was a trying time.
To keep the disturbance to a minimum, I'd gather her up in my arms and carry her back to her bedroom. We'd check under the bed and inside the closet to be sure they were monster-free, then I'd lie down beside her and soothe her back to sleep.
We memorized Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you," and I'd hear her whispering it to herself as she drifted off.
I was careful to lie with some distance between us so I could leave without disturbing her, but occasionally I would feel her hand creep across the space that separated us in the dark. She would touch me lightly, then pull her hand back with a relieved sigh. Although she knew I was lying beside her, sometimes she needed an extra touch to remind herself I was there.
Prayer is like that for me.
When life is dark and frightening, and monsters seem to lurk everywhere, sometimes I need extra reassurance that God has not abandoned me. And though I can't reach my hand out and touch him in the dark, I can reach out to him in prayer and hear his Spirit say, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). It is sweet comfort to know he is there beside me to keep the darkness at bay and to bid the monsters flee.
When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
Is there an area in your life where darkness threatens and monsters seem to lurk? I encourage you to join me in reaching out to touch God through prayer. Invite his presence to chase your fears away.
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