This week, I have definitely been out of my comfort zone. My spouse is currently away for 10 days in Brazil on a mission trip, so I am learning by fire what it means to be a single parent of a teenage girl and an 11 year old boy. Also, I’d be lying if I said that safety issues down in Brazil weren’t on my mind – after all, the reason the mission trip is even necessary at all is because of some pretty serious issues with how things like government and law enforcement run down there.
Moreover, my awesome mom planned a trip for us that took us into a different state to visit with relatives and check out some local attractions. I don’t travel very well, though, can be extremely introverted, and I am somewhat directionally challenged (so is she) – not an ideal mix for heading to a strange place!
I guess the bottom line is that I’ve had some fairly anxious moments over the past few days. But, thankfully, that’s where God’s power shows up best, and He did so through a brief and unexpected encounter at an aquarium we were visiting during our trip.
When we showed up at the aquarium, it was EXTREMELY crowded – very similar to the crowd at a concert when it’s over. But, we managed to meander our way through each exhibit and ended up in an unusual room where the jellyfish were. The room had been darkened, and there were long cylindrical tanks holding the jellyfish with some lighting that accented the beauty of the creatures. It’s the type of room that you want to stay in and look at for a while, and that’s what we did.
While we were looking around, though, I noticed that my son had sort of wandered off from our group and was looking around by himself, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he could easily have found himself lost and in a serious situation quickly due to the large crowd and lack of light in the room.
He may have been oblivious to this, but I sure wasn’t! I put my eyes on him and watched to make sure I knew where he was so that if he looked around and found himself lost, that I would immediately be able to rush in and let him know that he wasn’t lost at all – I was watching him the whole time…that I was making sure he was safe. He just didn’t know it.
And that’s where God met me – His sweet, still, small voice spoke to me in that moment, “That – what you are doing for your son – is what I’m doing for you right now.”
I am glad the room was a bit dark because I teared up a little as the truth of this really hit me. Jesus promises us in Matthew 28:20 that he will always be with us, and His promises are always good – even if we don’t realize all of the time. This is something I know intellectually, but God knew in that moment that I needed to hear it directly from Him.
The effect was instant – when God meets you like that, a huge weight comes off and you suddenly are free to just be in the moment to enjoy what’s happening around you. That’s the peace of God, and it is a wonderful gift!
Today, I am very thankful for the great time we had in the midst of some amount of uncertainty, and I am certain God is watching very closely what’s going on in Brazil as well. I am thankful for a God who love His children like I love mine. And, I am thankful that God loves me so much that He let me know this when I really needed to hear it! He is good, so good, all the time!