You've probably seen it or done it before. You have to do something...something absolutely terrifying. And four words suddenly make it so much more bearable.
"I'll go with you."
It's something I've done for my friends. It's something my friends have done for me. Even if it's as simple as having your friend up on Google Talk while you make the most terrifying phone call of your life (I'll never forget that, dash)...they're there. They're thinking of you, praying for you. They're feeling what you're feeling as much as they can without being you.
You don't expect them to do whatever you have to do for you. They won't break up for you, go through surgery for you, or take a life-changing test for you. It's not that they don't want to...it's just that it doesn't work that way.
"What if I go with you?" Sometimes that makes all the difference. Things we would never do by ourselves, we allow to become possibilities when we have the promise of a nearby friend.
At my very first piano competition, I was unexpectedly asked to announce my name and piece to the audience. I promptly burst into tears. I wanted to run away, and if I'd had my way, I would never have come back.
But somebody went with me. My mommy held my hand, walked me to the front of the room, and sat beside me while I played. She couldn't play for me. But she was there. Her nearness made me, if not bold, at least a little less of a coward.
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand. You guide me
with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory.
"This is something I have to do alone," we sometimes say.
No, my friend.
There is never anything you have to do alone.
He won't do it for you (though there's one small thing He's already done in your place). But He'll be there. He's thinking of you, feeling what you're feeling in a way even your closest friend can't. And His nearness is enough to make us, if not bold, at least a little less of a coward.
He's there. It's as simple as that. He's there and always will be.
And that, my friends, is what has been on my heart throughout my long absence from this blog.
He's there.
