From the moment he crawled into bed our bed, I knew we were in serious trouble. His ragged breathing practically shouted the diagnosis: Pneumonia. But we had to wait. In the country where we lived, the doctor remained unavailable until office hours later in the morning. No personal numbers, no pager, no on-call nurse, no after-hours clinic. None. And while we waited, our little boy’s fever steadily rose. With each short, rattling breath, the sickening feeling in my stomach increased as his hot little body sought comfort nestled between my husband and me.
In those restless hours, more than once I looked out the window and begged daylight to come. Somehow, in one of those distant gazes, the Lord brought to mind a story filed away in my brain—and it helped.
When the clock finally ticked its way to the appropriate hour, the agonizing wait ended, and we saw our doctor. For more than two weeks, our son battled the menacing respiratory disease. Then, our entire family took a deep cleansing breath when he finally donned his backpack and walked out the door to resume a normal life. Weak but well, we had our little boy back.
The story the Lord used to sustain me is here for you. Maybe in the wee hours of some frightening morning, it will be your comfort as well.
Taken from Every Knee Shall Bow: A Collection of Writing and Thoughts About Jesus, by Joan Winmill Brown
She writes,
A missionary friend told me of a time of great crisis in her life. They were stationed in a primitive area, and her husband had to go on an extended trip into “the bush”. He had scarcely left when one of the children contracted polio. The others soon developed a minor malady with alarmingly similar symptoms. My friend felt desperate. How could she bear the responsibilities—day and night nursing, the anxiety at home as well as concern for her husband who was venturing into unknown territory?
Eventually, the episode has a happy ending, The children recovered; the mother lived through a very difficult time; and the father returned safely, rejoicing over souls who came to know Christ because he had gone to them with the Gospel message.
Our conversation had started because she was comforting me during a period in which my tribulations loomed large. But as she talked, they seemed small compared to some of her experiences.
“How did you survive?” I asked her. “Of course, I know you must have prayed and prayed and prayed!”
“I didn’t,” she confessed. “I moved like on automation from one task to the next one. God understood, and I felt His presence. Also, He gave me a simple sentence that kept me going day and night. I want to share it with you. Try it; it will sustain you through anything: I’ve proven its worth. I just affirmed: ‘For this, I have Jesus.’”
Living With Eternal Intentionality®
“He has also set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2).
When has the Presence of Jesus been a supernatural comfort to you in the face of an agonizing trial?
Why do you think the phrase—For this I have Jesus—holds powerful sway in the midst of difficulty?
