Comfort

Linking up today with Lisa-Jo for Five Minute Friday. Today's word prompt is comfort.

It was the second time in nine months that we had gathered in the medical center's chapel. Once again, we were joining hearts, hands and voices on behalf of a little guy in the NICU. The Spirit of God was palpable in the room that night. Scripture was quoted from the heart and read from the pages of our Bibles; prayers of praise, thanksgiving and intercession were offered; songs of praise and worship were spontaneously interspersed in between the spoken word. We stood together and raised our hands, beseeching God for His hand, comfort, wisdom and healing. We had church that rainy evening for 90 minutes or more, coming together as a family of believers. We had witnessed God's providence in one little life and we were trusting Him for healing once again.

The first time we were in that chapel as a church family, it was one of our own we were surrounding in prayer. J had arrived three months early and so much was unknown that summer evening when we gathered. Mama was resting upstairs, J was in the NICU and his daddy was with us in the chapel. This time, we were with a family who live 90 minutes away, but had found our church and made it their own over the past several months as A has been in the NICU. Few of us know the family well, but all of us knew that God had brought them to us and us to them for this season.

We are a tiny church, so the likelihood of two babies with critical health needs in our congregation within a year are small, despite living within the shadow of a major medical center. But God moves in mysterious ways and teaches us as only He can. I know that our worship and prayer that Sunday evening brought comfort to A's parents, but it also brought comfort to the rest of us gathered together, comfort and joy knowing that God is in control and is the author and finisher of our faith.

Note: A Five Minute Friday entry on the stories of J and A is wholly inadequate to express God's mighty work their lives, the lives of their families and the lives of those of us who are privileged to be part of their stories. The times of prayer and worship that we have had on behalf of these little ones have been instrumental in the spiritual lives of individuals in our church and in our congregation as a whole. It's a beautiful thing.