“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Several years ago, my wife spent two weeks in Hawaii with her mother. The idea was her mom’s. “I want to watch you enjoy part of your inheritance,” she told her.
For several weeks prior to leaving, Robbie repeatedly thanked me for “letting her go”. “I’m not letting you go,” I told her. “I want you to go. This will be a great memory for you and you mother to share.”
We both agreed that the trip would be hard on us, but I don’t think she missed me as much as I missed her. She called me the first day into the trip and then I didn’t hear from her for almost three days. “It was hard to get a good signal on the cell phone,” she later explained. “Yeah right,” I thought, “those things never work in urban areas like Honolulu.” The truth is she was having the time of her life and it was hard to find the time to work in the obligatory phone call.
Anyway, we finally devised a plan that we would speak when she woke up in the morning and then, if possible, again during the afternoon. The six-hour time difference meant her mornings were my afternoons, and her afternoons were my evenings. She realized that I was pining away for her like an old dog that had lost his owner; and I knew she missed me, too. But I also knew she was working to accommodate me by working those phone calls into a crowded tour schedule.
I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever missed someone so much. It had nothing to do with the fact that she keeps our house going, cooks our meals, and does the laundry. That wasn’t what I missed. What I missed was my best friend, my soul mate, the woman I loved more than life itself. I had greatly underestimated how much I would miss her.
My first weekend without her was difficult for me. I had too much idle time on my hands and couldn’t get her off my mind. I was so excited when she called me on Saturday afternoon. We talked about the day ahead for her since it was only 7:00 AM in Hawaii, and she mentioned that she would not be able to call me Saturday night because she was going to be out on the water and out of range for a cell phone. “I’ll call you first thing tomorrow,” she promised.
I experienced loneliness the rest of that Saturday unlike any other time in my life. It was as if she had died. When day grew into night, I realized that while I might be lonely, I was not alone, so I turned to the Lord and asked him to favor me with one request. “Lord Jesus,” I prayed. “Your Word says that you will give us the desires of our heart. I think you already know how much I’m missing Robbie. Is there any way you could arrange a phone call tonight? I can’t tell you how much hearing her voice would mean.”
I remember thinking that I had to hold on to the promises God makes and just believe that the call would come. Forty-five minutes later, the telephone rang…God had answered my prayer.
There I sat as lonely as I could be, but never alone. I just forgot to reach out and ask for a little help.
We often don’t even think about praying over the small things. It’s almost as if we believe God is far too busy to deal with the everyday hardships that life brings our way. But the Bible says He cares just as much about the everyday hardships as He does about the big ones. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them. He delivers them from all their troubles. (Psalm 34:17)
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