Around 5:30 or so one morning, our horse of a dog started crying to go outside.
All I wanted to do was to go back to sleep, even for just 10 more minutes. That wasn’t happening. The crying continued, getting louder and louder.
I kept thinking to myself that the kids slept in, and now it’s the dog who’s awake.
“Alright, alright, I’m up,” I mumbled under my breath, frustrated.
I took the dog through the house, trudging along each step, hoping to climb back into our nice, warm bed.
That changed quickly. As I opened the door, still in a stupor, a bitter wind hit me square in the face.
No going back to bed from that.
“Well, I’m up now,” I thought, so I took my place on the couch, thinking God must have me awake for a reason.
The message was loud and clear.
Let me explain.
Within five minutes, I started hearing the pitter-patter of little feet as Elli came walking out to join me. Climbing up in my arms, she started hacking right in my face.
Sickness has been rampant in our home for about the last month, but that doesn’t change how bad I feel for her each time she coughs and the moisture fills her eyes.
“I know, baby. I wish I could take it from you,” I said. “I do. I would give anything to take this sickness away – to trade you places.”
To all parents, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
The reality in the moment was that all I could do was hold her tight and comfort her.
As we laid there, God started speaking to my heart, expressing that that feeling is exactly how He feels for you and me.
It was like a voice speaking to me, saying, “For thousands of years, I wanted to take it from you, from all mankind. You see, Josh, that sickness is the sin that just continues to linger and keeps coming back, making you miserable.”
God can take the sickness from us, and it is exactly what He did in sending his Son to die on the cross.
God isn’t just sitting awake in Heaven, looking down, saying, “I know you’re miserable. I wish I could take it from you.” No!
He did something. He put those thoughts into action.
Our belief in Him sets us free from that eternal sickness and persistent misery.
In the spiritual realm, He did what I only wish I could do for my kids, taking away the “sickness” once and for all.
Will you let Him be your comfort today, taking away that sickness?
I needed those words that morning. I needed that comfort to know that my God, my Savior, is a God of action and love.
He does what we only wish we can.
“But when the right time came, God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
“God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” – Galatians 4:4-5