Where are you?

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.~Mathew 28:20b

"Where are you?"  Three words that caused my heart to ache yesterday.  The voice on the other end belonged to my dearest friend.  I heard the agony and the pain and I wasn't anywhere near.  I could not hop into my car to make it better. I could not take her pain and diminish her fear.  We prayed and asked God for peace and comfort, but I still wanted to be there.  I wanted to give more than a quick platitude.  I wanted to give her something that would mean something.  Words that would sustain her.  The problem is that there is no replacement for God.  Sure, I can be used to give comfort.  But He is comfort.

In this ordeal God showed me that perhaps I wasn't there for a reason.  Perhaps it was to assure my friend that no matter what comes He is there until the very end.  In fact, because I know she is a believer,  He is there all the way to the other side of this earth.  He is there always.  He is all!  He is sovereign and had the final say on all things.

My friend is suffering.  I want to fix it, but my assignment is not to fix it but rather to stand in the gap.  To remind her of God's immense love for her and her family.  She may bend, but she will not break.  In all things we can. E sure if His great love for us.  "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39).
This true for all of us.  

Father I thank You for being with us.  Bless my friend and her family.  Bless the families of this earth.  May we fill your love and assurance of peace. Give us hope.  Give us You. In Jesus name. Amen