I waited for some time to see if she might ease
back into sleep. When she persisted in crying, I staggered from my bed and into
her room. I attempted to lull her back to sleep and as I held her, I wondered
if God hears His children in the way I hear my daughter’s cry. Do my tears grip
His attention in a like manner? Does He rush to check on me when my cries rise
up to Him? This midnight scene in my daughter’s room seemed a fitting analogy for
God’s own care for His children. But for some reason, I couldn’t think of the
Scripture that would settle this as true in my mind. I let the thought go
and proceeded to soothe my daughter to sleep.
Hours later, dizzy with tiredness, and still
holding a sleepless toddler, I decided that it was time to quit. The loving mother
had hit her limit; I placed her in the crib and left the room – thankfully, I
heard no crying! As my head hit my own pillow, something suddenly made sense.
My expression of love for my daughter – while there might be some small
parallels – is miniature when
compared with God’s love for His children. The scale is simply not the same. As
much as I love my daughter, I fail, I tire, and I even give up. But God is God!
He never sleeps nor slumbers (Psalm 121:4) nor lacks for anything. He is perfect
in His power and perfect in His love for and commitment to His own. Psalm
103:11 states: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His
steadfast love toward those who fear Him.”
I have had moments of deep sorrow in my life and
was like a restless child crying in the night. The LORD heard me and He came
near. He encouraged me with His Word and comforted me with His presence. He did
not leave me. I remembered God’s great love as I laid in bed that night. And just
as sleep came to silence these thoughts, the Scripture I had hoped for earlier
suddenly came to mind: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no
compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget
you!” Isaiah 49:15.