He is Near

The nearness of God hasn't been so real to me in a while as it was in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

About the time Travis and I were getting ready for bed Saturday night, an overwhelming feeling of nausea overcame me.  I knew that eating a little protein would perhaps help, but I was already past the point of being able to eat.  (If you've ever had morning sickness, you probably know what I mean.)  I laid down in bed hoping the nausea would ease off and wondering if I was coming down with something.

I slept for a couple hours until my full bladder awakened me.  As I stumbled back from the bathroom and climbed into bed, my half-asleep husband asked me if I was feeling better; and I told him I was too tired to be able to tell.  A few minutes later, though, I knew without a doubt that I wasn't feeling better.  As I lay in bed attempting to fall back to sleep, the feeling of nausea again swept over me--this time so strongly it was keeping me from sleep.  My mind started spinning with reasons why I might be feeling this way, and then I realized I hadn't felt my babies move at all during this middle-of-the-night wake time.  This realization brought to my mind a whole new realm of speculations, and I then began worrying about my babies.

As an automatic response to my worries, I prayed rather unexpectantly, "God, are both my babies okay?"  I was caught totally off guard when instantly one baby started a series of very active movements followed immediately by the other baby doing the same.  I knew without a doubt not only that both my babies were indeed okay but also that God had responded to my simple prayer as quickly as if we were conversing face-to-face.

Even still as I reflect on this I am utterly amazed--maybe even a little surprised--by the nearness of God.  What exactly was I expecting when I threw up that little prayer?  Nothing, I guess.  But God, because He hears my prayers and because He cares for me, answered me plainly as automatically as I had inquired of Him.

Praise God that He can use something as unlikely as sleep-preventing nausea to reveal Himself to His children.  And praise the Lord that He is near to all who call upon Him in truth (Psalm 145:18).