02 May I Will Love You, O Lord My Strength

I sat quietly in my bedroom trying to catch a few quiet moments alone for prayer when I heard my daughter’s scream. It wasn’t the “I’m angry at my brother” scream, but the kind that sends chills down any mom’s spine – the “I’ve been badly hurt” scream.

I leaped up just in time to see her burst into my room with blood running down her face from a huge gash on her forehead. Through sobs she explained that she had jumped up on the kitchen counter to get a snack that was up in a higher cabinet, not noticing one of the cabinet doors, slightly ajar, was right in line with her forehead. It hit the corner of the cabinet with the force of her leap, inflicting a deep wound.

Sending the other kids across the room was step one. Step two was cleaning off her face so I could see the actual wound and how deep it was. Unfortunately, the gash was too deep for at home care to cover it and my gut told me she would need stitches. I called my husband in to give a second opinion. He took one look at her and said, “We need to get her to urgent care now – she needs stitches.”

As I bandaged her wound the best I could and wrapped a cold compress around her forehead, I heard her cry, “Jesus! Jesus, please help me!” and then her entreaty to me, “Mama, please pray for me!” I asked God to draw near to my daughter in her pain, to comfort her with his presence, to give her peace as she and my husband got in the car.

The next day, after the stitches had been successfully made and Tylenol had been given for her throbbing pain, I sat once again, propped up by my pillows with Bible open. The Psalms have been my spiritual bread and butter these days. I began in Psalm 57 which begins with this plea, “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by.“

I smiled as I remembered my daughter’s words, “Jesus! Jesus, please help me!” While not as eloquent or poetic as King David’s prayer, what mattered is this: In her pain, she cried out to the Lord. In her pain and fear, she turned to Jesus. 

Sometimes, like when our pain is throbbing and gushing out, we just can’t hide it – it pours out and we may cry out readily. Other times, our emotional pain can keep quietly accumulating or simmering under the surface until we find ourselves breaking down at unexpected times.

In those moments (and we will all have them) when we feel that the bottom has dropped out from under us, when we feel that we can’t take another step – God is right there for us. He holds out his hand and encourages us not to “pull up our bootstraps and be strong already” but to cling to Him.

There’s no need for bluffing about strength we just don’t have. He’s the strong one. And he invites us, urges us, calls to us – “Child, come take your refuge in me!”:

“When my heart is faint – Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.” – Psalm 61:2

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; My mighty rock and my refuge is God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before him, God is a refuge for us.” – Psalm 62:5-8

When you are in pain, where do you turn for comfort and healing? When you are weak, to whom or what do you look for strength? There is only one fortress that will never break down. There is only one Rock that can never be shaken. Let’s turn to him and pour out our hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us.