Shaunti Feldhahn's devotional is a great guide for moms to follow, even if they just have 3 minutes of quiet in their day! She invites fellow women to seek peace in the midst of the chaos of motherhood, reminding her readers to go to Jesus as their source of peace.

Walking Beside Jesus on the Long Journey

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

1 Peter 5:7 NLT

We were in a little country church in the mountains of Virginia that Christmas Eve. As we stood for the final hymn, I was looking forward to gathering up the kids, heading back to my parents’ cabin, and enjoying a glass of eggnog with my husband, Jeff, while we wrapped the last presents.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, something was drastically wrong. Our almost-eleven-year-old son, Luke, stiffened next to me, and then his whole body began to shake. In absolute shock I cried, “He’s having a seizure!” and the church erupted.

The next terrifying hours were a blur—the minutes our son was without oxygen during a massive grand mal seizure; the equally scary “postictal” state of being semiconscious and unresponsive; the long race along dark rural roads to the nearest hospital, which was much too far away. It was the longest two hours of my life.

Learning that Luke had epilepsy was the beginning of a long journey, one that seemed even longer once we discovered that medication would control his bodily seizures but not the spikes in his brain. Our straight-A student was transformed into someone who had to work extremely hard just to listen, read, and learn. The same medications that slowed down his brain’s dangerous electrical activity also slowed his processing speed and ability to follow group conversations. Suddenly, our friendly, class-clown son had extreme difficulty making friends.

I found myself constantly worrying about him. Each time the school called, my heart caught in my chest. Did he have a seizure? Each time I asked, “Who did you sit with at lunch?” and he answered, “No one,” I died a little inside. Luke was generally strong about his new challenges, but in those moments when the dam broke and tears leaked down his cheeks because he couldn’t comprehend the page he just read, my heart broke for him. My mind reeled with worries about his future.

You may know that feeling. Your long journey of worry is probably different, but in my research over the years, it is rare to find a mom whose mind doesn’t occasionally travel down trails of anxiety or fear. Maybe your worry isn’t medical, but about living in an unsafe neighborhood, the effects of an unwanted divorce, the daily bullying in middle school, or the pressure of grades in high school. That awareness is always there in the back of our minds.

A year or two into our epilepsy journey, I finally realized: The reason we worry is that we haven’t yet grasped that the awesome God who created the heavens truly cares for us down here on earth. That is why Jesus came, after all. He is suffering with us in the moments of terror or heartbreak. He rejoices in the victories. When a boy who feels stupid and a mom whose heart quakes sit on the couch with tears running down their cheeks, God wraps His arms around both of them to bring peace. Jesus promises to give us peace in the long journey if we will only take our anxieties and fears and give them to Him. The real journey is to walk alongside Him on the path He has for us—wherever it leads—knowing that it is set before us by One who loves us more than we can comprehend.

In dark moments, we somehow believe that if God really loved us and our kids, He wouldn’t let bad things happen. And yet Jesus tells us directly that in this world we will have trouble, but to take heart because He has overcome the world. There will be a day when this world and all its troubles are swept away. And what will be left is the same great God who loved us all along.

PRAYER

Jesus, I give You the anxiety I’m experiencing over this hard thing that has come into my life. I wasn’t expecting it, and I don’t want it. Yet You promise to walk with me and care for me on the journey. I choose to put my focus on that fact and receive Your peace. I give You this situation knowing that You love me more than I can comprehend and that I can cast all my cares on You. Thank You for being my strength. I trust You, Lord. Amen.

REFLECT

What is your long journey? Thinking back over the last few weeks and months, what are three signs that God is caring for you on your journey? How might keeping those things in mind change how you experience the next few months of the path?