My daughter picked up a stomach bug this past Thursday.  I woke up early to get everything ready for what was going to be a full day of fun in the sun with a few friends of ours.  We went swimming at a local aquatic center and we had a blast!  We got back home by five o’clock that afternoon.  By six o’clock my daughter was throwing up.

And I mean she began to throw up profusely for the next few hours.  By nine o’clock she couldn’t hold down a sip of water.  She’d take a sip or two and within minutes she was throwing up the sips of water.   My daughter is tall and very skinny.  That is just the way God made her.  She is only fifty-three pounds and is ten years old.  As you can imagine, it does not take much throwing up to make her dehydrated.  Because I know this I watched her, like a hawk, all night long.  I did not go to sleep.  My son, who is seven, kept asking me why I wouldn’t go to sleep even though my daughter was sleeping intermittently through the night.  (She’d wake up to throw up.)  I told him it was because mommy had to take care of his sister.  (He decided if I was going to stay up to take care of her then he was too. He only lasted till one o’clock am.)   I kept racking my brain about what could have made her sick… was it the chicken I cooked that day?  No, everyone else had chicken and no one else was sick.  Did she pick up something at the pool?  That could have been it.  Then I made a big mistake and google(d), vomiting after swimming, and the words dry-drowning popped up!  Talk about frightening a mother’s heart!  I couldn’t stop thinking about how maybe she had inhaled water or that she could have picked up some kind of stomach bug.  I ended up having to take her to the ER around four in the morning.  I could tell she was becoming very dehydrated and was going to need an IV.  We didn’t get back home from the hospital till seven in the morning.  I had now been awake for a full twenty-four hours.

When we got home my daughter went to sleep in my bed.  I could not sleep so I just laid next to her trying to wrap my brain around what could have made her sick.  The doctor was sure that she had just picked up a stomach bug that had been making its way through our community.  I was so tired, but could not sleep because I was worried about her.  I was trying to figure out what else I could do to help her get better.  Soups, gatorade, etc.  Then I realized I could only do so much to help her.  Her body would have to fight this bug too.  Then the Holy Spirit whispered into my spirit… Do you see how much you love her?  You are willing to do anything to help her feel better.  That’s how the Father loves you too.

God loves me so much that He is always watching over me.  And He loves you the same way!

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39 ESV

Even when we don’t feel Him near; He is there.  He is watching us; waiting for a moment that we will look His way.  He is a good father who is waiting for us to ask for His help.  He wants to be our care taker.  We only have to let Him.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

He does not want us to “pick-up” anything that will make us sick or harm us.  He does not want us to pick up and hold on to sin, worry, anger, heartbreak, or anxiety.   We pick up sin on a daily basis.  Eve picked up sin when she decided to take the fruit of the forbidden tree.  Adam picked up sin when he accepted the apple from Eve and ate it.  God wants to help us “get better”.  He wants to help mold your “immune system” in such a way that we will no longer be picking up a sin.  God wants to help you in that  food addiction, drug addiction, or porn addiction.  God wants to help in that problem with anger.  He wants to be there to help you through whatever comes your way.  He wants to be right by your side helping in your everyday tasks.

God doesn’t want us worried about situations or circumstances we cannot control.  He wants us to have faith in Him.  God doesn’t want you anxious about anything.  He wants you at peace and believing in Him.  

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?   Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’   For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  – Matthew 6:25-34 ESV

God doesn’t want you to be depressed.  God wants to be your comforter during a broken time in your life.  He is always there with arms open and ears ready to listen.

I don’t know what you might be going through today.  But know that God is always with you.  He loves you so much!

“God is our refuge and strength,

            A very present help in trouble.

      Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change

            And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

      Though its waters roar and foam,

            Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. 

Selah.

      There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

            The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

      God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;

            God will help her when morning dawns.”

Psalm 46: 1-5 NASB

Be lifted in Him.