"Daddy," he cried...

2:40 a.m.  I throw the covers back and quickly orient myself to what's going on.  My family has been sick.  Stomach bug sick.  Vomiting.  And other gross things if you catch my drift.  Well, at this point, my oldest son was the only one still in need of fully recovering - my wife and middle son were for the most part on their way back to wellness.  Nevertheless, I was sleeping on the couch to be in the middle of the house to hear who would need help - the boys in one side and my better half in the other.  

So, there it was.  The sound of my oldest yelling, "DADDY! DADDY!"  Rubbing my eyes, I pull myself off the couch and dart to the guest bathroom, where I see my five-year old son hunched over the toilet.  I move behind him to sit on the side of the tub, as I had already done  probably six times so far this night, and I rub his back as that horrific sound of his stomach entrails entering the toilet.  Poor thing.  Helpless.  A victim to the sickly condition of his body. Exhausted.  Weary.  I wipe his mouth, hug him tight, and feel the weight of his body go limp as the utter nature of his fatigue and sleepless state take hold.

I carry him into the living room and make a bed for him on the love seat, tuck him in and kiss him on the forehead.  I know it won't be long until he is awakened again for another bathroom run, followed by the cry of "Daddy!" once more.

As he lay there, the Spirit of God pricked my heart and whispered to me as I sat in the darkness of my living room...


It was like He said, "One, note the condition of your son - a virus attacks his body - and he is helpless to cure himself." 

As was the sick state of sin in which my body was once trapped.  Imprisoned.  Captive.  Sin was my master and its sick symptoms of pride, jealousy, fear, hatred, lust, and other sins would show themselves in and through me.  Until one day when I called, "Daddy!" In faith and repentance, I stood over the toilet of despair and realized the depraved state in which I existed.  I needed Him.  And He not only rubbed my back and comforted me in my helplessness - He helped me and cured me of my sickness - as the reality of His work on the Cross covered my sin, cleansing me of all unrighteousness.  Now, although there are still be symptoms of my disgusting flesh, I am no longer mastered by it.  The sickness of sin has lost.  And its ultimate cost of death has lost its sting.

So many Scriptures speak to this....one passage that stands out:

"12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, anddeath through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.


15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:12-17, ESV)

In my remembrance of what God had done in me, the Spirit of God also spoke another convicting word to my heart:

"My Son, why do you most often call out to me in times of despair and hardship?  In difficulty and weariness?  I desire to hear you and commune with you at all times.  Not just in the uncomfortable conditions of life.  But call on me in all conditions of life."  

He wants relationship with me.  He desires fellowship, as should my soul.  It was such a true realization.  As the psalmist declares:

"As a deer pants for flowing streams,
      so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
      for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?" (Psalm 42:1-2, ESV)

In another way,

"To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
      O my God, in you I trust;
      let me not be put to shame;
      let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
      they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
      teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
      for you are the God of my salvation;
      for you I wait all the day long." (Psalm 25:1-5, ESV)

I should wait for Him all the day long...not just in the weary watch of night.  I should lift up my soul to Him and walk in constant trust of our magnificent Maker.  In this intimate relationship, prayer and crying out become crucial elements of my everyday life in Christ.  As I pant for Him, abiding in His richness and strength, I am reminded of my daily, minute-by-minute need for His mercy and grace.  My dependency upon His power and might. 

Gazing at my son as he sleeps, I thank Christ for teaching moments when He softens our hearts and makes us sensitive to the working of His Spirit.  May you in the same way, hear His Spirit speak to you reminding you from where you came and what He did to set you free...but also that in that freedom, come to Him regularly for the sweet fellowship He offers when you enjoy the intimacy He has established between you and Himself.

"Daddy!" was soon heard again.  And with a grateful heart, I arose, in Christ, to minister in the same grace He had shown me.

"Coming," I declare...as Love motioned me forward.  As Love loved my son.  As Love worked in the quiet darkness of the night.

#4hisfame.