A few Sundays ago, a young man, who is close to our family, came to my house. He was dealing with some things and came to share his heart. As he spoke, I glanced at the tears that sporadically trickled down his face. But, my focus was on his hands. Oh, how they were shaking. I noticed his entire body was quivering. I wanted to just hold him in my arms and comfort him. However, he was much bigger than me!
The next day in the car, the song “Hold me Jesus” came on.
” Sometimes my life just don’t make sense at all
When the mountains looks so big
And my faith just seems so small
So, hold me Jesus cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won’t you be my Prince of Peace.”
When the lyrics, “shaking like a leaf”, were sang, I thought of the boy who I wanted to comfort. I pictured Jesus holding him. He was in much better hands than mine. And it was clear from our conversation, that he knew God had him close. What a sweet and comforting thought. The Almighty holding us tightly when we need solace.
The Shepherd
This incident reminded me of a dark night years ago when I watched as Karla shook from despair. I remember feeling so helpless, but I knew God was there with us. All my life I have heard Jesus referred to as the Shepherd. “He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to his heart.” Isaiah 40:11. I believe our Shepherd was holding Karla close to his heart.
A Mother
While looking at verses about comfort, I read Isaiah 66:13. “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” This reminded me of a time I was distraught. It really spoke to me. The day after I brought my baby girl, delivered by C-section, home from the hospital, the Blizzard of ’93 hit Georgia. We were stuck in the middle of 200 wooded acres with no heat, no water, no phone, no power…not much of anything! My mama had come to stay a few weeks. We were surviving on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit from the basket someone sent as a gift to the hospital. The thermometer in the house, which only went down to 32 degrees, was bottomed out. To keep warm, we were all lying under blankets. Mama on the love seat, me on the couch and my husband on the floor. We all took turns keeping the baby warm. Whoever had her would lay her on their stomach and cover her in a blanket, leaving only a small air hole. When she would awake to eat and be changed, we would pass her to the next person.
So many trees had fallen that the driveway was not visible. We were stuck for five days, until someone came and “cut” us out. Trees had to be sawed and removed for us to get to a road. Living so isolated from everything, Georgia Power estimated our electricity would not be restored for another week. So, the sensible plan was for us to go stay with relatives in town.
Mama
Already emotional from hormones, this news devastated me. I wanted to keep my baby girl home. All her “new things” were at home, where I wanted us to be! I did not want to stay with relatives. Upset, I went in the bathroom and sat facing forward on the edge of the toilet lid. I began sobbing like a baby. My mama came in the bathroom. Amid my tears, I felt mama ease her small frame behind me, as she too straddled the lid. She encompassed me with her loving arms and just held me. I was twenty-six years old, being held by my mama! To this day, I cannot remember this moment without tears. Though we were both sitting on the toilet, it was such a precious memory. When I think about Isaiah 40:11, that is what I picture. Just leaning back and letting Jesus wrap His arms around me and love on me when I am shaking like a leaf.
Revelations 12:4
Life is hard. Sometimes we are the one shaking like a leaf, and other times we are watching someone we care about suffer. During the bad, we sometimes feel like God is far away. But He hasn’t left us. He will comfort us. He will comfort us like a shepherd, like a mother. And we have the promise of Revelations 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”