Laying in the Arms of God

 

[Jesus said] “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:18-21 ESV).

 

Last week Mary and I were able to go to Florida to visit with David, Becca, and the kids. It was an incredible times in so many ways. We played together; we fished a little, and we saw Maggie in her first dance recital. It was four days of absolute wonder and joy. Of course children will be children and do or say something that might be “crossing a boundary” but it was delightful. One experience stands out from the rest. David, Harris, and I had been fishing that morning and Harris was pretty tired, though he would never admit to it. He is afraid he might “miss something.” The adults were sitting on the lanai looking out toward the little lake and the children were playing on the trampoline. Harris was so tired he layed down in the middle of the trampoline and fell asleep. The girls wanted to jump, so they continued to jump bouncing him up and down while he was so groggy he couldn’t control how he landed. David corrected them and told Harris to move to be safe. Maggie was a bit impatient and began to “drag” him to the side. He started to cry; she got corrected for being rough with her brother and she began to cry.

 

Watching it all unfold I was tempted to go get Harris and bring him into the lanai to sit with me, though I knew that would not be a good thing to do. I did wait. The girls finally came into the pool to swim and left Harris sobbing in the middle of the trampoline. After a few moments I watched as he slumped forward a got very still, face down, still kneeling as he fell asleep from the exhaustion of the ordeal. I waited a bit and walked out and climbed into the trampoline laying down beside him. I touched his arm to wake him and he sat up suddenly saying, “I’m OK.” I smiled and asked if he was taking a nap, he replied, “Yep.” I wiped his face with a towel and asked if he wanted to go with me a sit together on the lanai and continue his nap. He said, “Yep.” We got out of the safety enclosure of the trampoline and walked in ending up in the position you see in the picture (I apologize for the “casual” photo, but it is all I have of the moment). He napped for nearly thirty minutes!

 

Here’s the truth for today… we are living in a time when many are exhausted from the trial and difficulty of life. We are grieved and hurt; wounded and weary. We may even simply fall to our knees with the exhaustion. God never leaves us. He will never forsake us. He comes and lays beside us invited us to come and lay in His arms in the cool shade of the lanai. Go ahead, lay beside him, and take a nap. He will protect and keep you through every circumstance.