Comfort
(Originally posted February 11, 2013)
I was driving my two boys to watch their Daddy play basketball with our church team recently, and we passed a spot that we have passed several times in Walker's life. It's not a place we pass often now. As we drove past, I shared with him about how I was involved in a wreck in that place several years before his Dad and I were married. I was riding with someone else and a deer ran out in front of us on this country road. The driver of the vehicle did what came naturally to him, and in a panic, swerved to miss the deer. I am unsure of the details that unfolded next. All I know is the car was soon spinning out of control. All I could make sense of were the browns, greens and camouflage of the trees, bushes and night that lie before us. I don't know how many times we spun. One too many in my opinion.
My first response was fear. I was terrified. I knew that any minute the car would flip, because I knew the path well-the deep ditch on the side of the road, the trees that would certainly break our momentum, the dark country night that would likely hide us from immediate rescue. I'm not sure how long we were spinning, but my fear only lasted a second. In the midst of the browns, greens and insane sense of confusion my body felt from the unusual sensation of spinning out of control, God gave me the wherewithal to pray.
Instantly, before I really even began to utter words that I don't clearly remember, I felt an overwhelming peace come over me. In my mind it was settled. This car would stop spinning, and my friend and I would be ok. And I knew, I honestly knew we would be. Then the car stopped spinning. And guess what? My friend and I were ok.
As I was sharing this story with Walker of my wreck, he asked one question. "How are you still alive, Mommy?" I didn't have an answer for him but I did have an answer for his next question, "Were you scared?"
I shared with him about the peace God gave me, that I would be ok. That led to a conversation about how sometimes when we are afraid God will give us a peace that just feels like a calmness over our entire body and mind. Even though our circumstances may be scary and undesirable, God is a God of comfort.
My sweet boy responded simply. "I think I have that in me too mommy. Peace. I used to be afraid of the dark and now I am not."
Scary things happen in this life. Bad things happen. I was fortunate in my situation. What could have ended terribly, ended wonderfully. The goodness of God doesn't exempt us from the consequences of living in a fallen world. But when those troubling times come, run to the One who can provide peace for all our circumstances. The One true comfort.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." -2 Corinthians 1:3-4
I was driving my two boys to watch their Daddy play basketball with our church team recently, and we passed a spot that we have passed several times in Walker's life. It's not a place we pass often now. As we drove past, I shared with him about how I was involved in a wreck in that place several years before his Dad and I were married. I was riding with someone else and a deer ran out in front of us on this country road. The driver of the vehicle did what came naturally to him, and in a panic, swerved to miss the deer. I am unsure of the details that unfolded next. All I know is the car was soon spinning out of control. All I could make sense of were the browns, greens and camouflage of the trees, bushes and night that lie before us. I don't know how many times we spun. One too many in my opinion.
My first response was fear. I was terrified. I knew that any minute the car would flip, because I knew the path well-the deep ditch on the side of the road, the trees that would certainly break our momentum, the dark country night that would likely hide us from immediate rescue. I'm not sure how long we were spinning, but my fear only lasted a second. In the midst of the browns, greens and insane sense of confusion my body felt from the unusual sensation of spinning out of control, God gave me the wherewithal to pray.
Instantly, before I really even began to utter words that I don't clearly remember, I felt an overwhelming peace come over me. In my mind it was settled. This car would stop spinning, and my friend and I would be ok. And I knew, I honestly knew we would be. Then the car stopped spinning. And guess what? My friend and I were ok.
As I was sharing this story with Walker of my wreck, he asked one question. "How are you still alive, Mommy?" I didn't have an answer for him but I did have an answer for his next question, "Were you scared?"
I shared with him about the peace God gave me, that I would be ok. That led to a conversation about how sometimes when we are afraid God will give us a peace that just feels like a calmness over our entire body and mind. Even though our circumstances may be scary and undesirable, God is a God of comfort.
My sweet boy responded simply. "I think I have that in me too mommy. Peace. I used to be afraid of the dark and now I am not."
Scary things happen in this life. Bad things happen. I was fortunate in my situation. What could have ended terribly, ended wonderfully. The goodness of God doesn't exempt us from the consequences of living in a fallen world. But when those troubling times come, run to the One who can provide peace for all our circumstances. The One true comfort.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." -2 Corinthians 1:3-4
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