Christ was alone so we won't be.

Has it ever felt to you that God was far away? Sometimes this can be a result of our own straying from Him and other times it’s just not explainable. One night recently, I awoke with a real sense of terror. It was as if some malevolent force was pressing in on me. The Bible talks about this very thing in Psalm 91:5 when it says, “You will not be afraid of the terror by night”, well, let me tell you, I was afraid—but not for long, because the Holy Spirit brought this verse to mind, and the moment I prayed, asking the Father to shelter me under the shadow of His wing, and surround me with His angels, the sense of evil went away.

And yet, our feeling apart from God is not necessarily a bad thing—especially when it makes us run to Him for forgiveness or protection. It all seems to be part of our living as imperfect creatures in a fallen world. We may not like it but it is part of our condition. Not so, however, with Jesus.

Jesus lived in perfect agreement with his Father, an unbroken consciousness of His presence—absolute light and no darkness—until Passover, when he was about 33 years old. That day, he suffered the horror of being forsaken and abandoned by his Father. This is the one and only time in the gospels that Jesus doesn't call God "Father".

It is as if the entire mass of the darkness of the sins of the world had descended on Jesus and completely blotted out the light of his Father's love, support and presence. God has turned His back. Not because He was repulsed by His Son, but because at that time, His son was bearing the hideous weight of our sin and rebellion against God. Something God, in His holiness, cannot look upon. The Amplified Bible puts it this way, “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which means, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me [deserting Me and leaving Me helpless and abandoned]?” Mark 15:34

Jesus suffered absolute separation from God. And he did it for us. He went through it so we wouldn't have to. If we ever think we don't need Christ’s grace and mercy, if we think we are good enough by our own efforts, then we scoff at His indescribable suffering.

Christ suffered all of this, so we can enjoy not only the pleasures of heaven, but also His presence for eternity.

Grandchildren are your reward...for not strangling your kids!

Today is the 22nd day of Autumn, and the temperature is a beautiful 74 degrees. This is a stark contrast to Saturday when it was 98.6.

Saturday was my youngest of five grandchildren's 3rd birthday. Eliza had been up since dawn and was making the most of the day. Helium balloons covered the ceiling like an upside down garden of pink flowers, and a pile of presents sat in one corner of the room waiting for the children to wear themselves out enough to sit quietly while the birthday girl opened her gifts.

Apart from Eliza's older brother and sister, Sam aged 5 and Bella aged 8, there were 10 adults and 11 children in various stages of meltiness when the air-conditioner decided it couldn't cope. The children, as usual, fared much better than the adults and ran around like lunatics. The only time they slowed down was when they were eating and when my oldest granddaughter, thirteen-year-old Emma, organised a game of "Dead Ants". This is a wonderful game, which I am sure all the parents appreciated. Emma counted to five and shouted, "Dead Ants." The kids all had to drop to the ground where they were and not move or make a sound until she said, "Ants alive."

Needless to say, there was a lot of giggling coming from the dead ants as they waited for their resurrection and could chase one another around the lounge room until the command 'dead ants' was once again given.

The birthday girl announced today, that she wanted another party because the other one was so much fun and her friends could all come again and they would eat cake and ice cream, but they didn't need to bring her more presents.

This coming Thursday, Eliza starts pre-school one day a week. That she is looking forward to going is an understatement, for one day last week, she woke at midnight, dressed herself, put on her school hat and her backpack, picked up her lunch bag and demanded that her daddy, who was still up watching TV, take her to school. Daddy did manage to convince her that the teachers were all asleep, but not until he took her into the backyard and showed her the moon and stars.

Children grow up far too quickly. Eliza is my baby, and I doubt there will be any more grandchildren-unless God decides otherwise-and in two years time when she goes to big school, my services as a babysitter will no longer be required except when Mummy needs to go shopping on her own.

Psalm 127:3 says, "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD," and I reckon with Grandchildren that goes double. So, in the meanwhile, I'll continue to thank God for them. I'll continue to pray that they each come to a saving knowledge of Christ, and I will love them, play with them and generally let them twist me around their little (and sometimes not so little) fingers.