The Father is With Us

I was travelling by bus today and I noticed a child in a pram was crying incessantly. It was one of those cries that you could tell was from being irritable, rather than from any real need such as being sick or hungry.

The father was with the child, rather than its mother, and he mostly seemed to ignore the child's protestations; the only thing he would do was to offer the occasional  reassuring word. What the child didn't understand was that they had to get where they were going and that they couldn't get there without riding on a hot and sticky bus.

My mind immediately went to the Father in Heaven. Here we are going through the journey of life moaning and crying out much of the time. We often have to think to realise all the things to be thankful for, but find it very easy to write a long list of wants and reasons to complain. We feel neglected and irritable; we wonder why we have to be stuck in such a situation and why God is not helping us like we think He should.

We must understand what that child couldn't: the Father is right there with us all the time, but there are things we have to go through that are necessary for us to reach our destiny in Christ. God in His grace will give us the occasional word from scripture or over the pulpit to comfort us, but to molly-coddle us would be doing us a disservice - spiritual babes, and then children, have to learn to go through unpleasant experiences with patience and faith.

At the end of every sticky bus ride is a refreshing summer breeze and a nice glass of mango juice - hopefully!