Where Do I Find Comfort?

We live in a very self-help society. 

If something is wrong, we try to fix it.

Perhaps I’m trying to get healthier by eating better and exercising. 

Maybe I’m hurting emotionally, so I try to distract myself by thinking happy thoughts or getting therapy. These things are not wrong, but I don’t believe they are the first place I should look.

My faith reminds me to look to Jesus…to sit at his feet when seeking answers.

Life is full of ups and downs. Usually, it’s when I’m most comfortable, feeling quite sufficient in handling my life, that the hard things happen. The unexpected changes…the new trials.

My daughter Lydia has Down Syndrome. There are constant challenges she has faced in her life. Also many blessings. But when I get into a comfortable groove with her, something new happens.

Lately, it's been another health challenge. Lydia started having seizures.

I just write the word “seizures” and I feel the tightness in my chest along with nausea.

It is a terrifying experience to find your daughter lying on her bed with a blank stare…not responding. I won’t describe all the details, just that it is one of the worst things I’ve been through.

Now that it’s happened several times, we have neurology appointments and tests to run.

Lydia is okay. Thankfully she doesn’t understand what happens, so she isn’t fearful of it happening again.

But I am.

Through this, my mom's heart is scared and hurting.

It’s at these “crisis” moments in life that I cry out to the Lord.

Not with an everyday kind of prayer, but the kind that pleads, “God, I can’t do this! Help me.”

That tearful prayer at Jesus' feet, it’s the place that I can find peace amidst the storm.

Maybe, that's where I should always be, not only in the crisis moments, but in the everyday moments - in the moments of thanksgiving as well as trials. At Jesus' feet we can find healing, answers, direction, and comfort.

May we remember to come before Him first with our lives.

Let him wrap you in His loving arms, as I pray blessings over you and yours.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 

 compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles,

 so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves

have received from God.”     2 Corinthians 1:3-4