I will sit with you forever

“The love of God will protect you from nothing 

even as it unexplainably sustains you in all things.” 

James Finely

A perfectly healthy, athletic young man became very sick and was hospitalized for nearly two weeks. His doctors never did discover the source of the infection that wrecked his body and took his kidneys to the brink. After a number of lengthy days of  treatment the young man began to recover. His body fought back slowly. The final stage of recovery was a stretch of severe anemia. One afternoon the young man was home alone, his wife having gone out on some errands, and found himself determined to go outside. He was unbelievably weak. The anemia drained every ounce of energy out of him. By some strange grace he was able to get dressed and even get his shoes on, but he couldn’t get up out of the chair where he’d landed in the den of his family’s home. Try as he might, he couldn't muster the strength to get up. He sat there and thought to himself, I’ll sit here resting for 30 minutes, then I’ll be able to get up out of this chair. After 30 minutes passed he still couldn’t get out of the chair. He felt weak, drained of all energy, in a way he never thought possible. 30 minutes more, he thought to himself, then I’ll get up. 30 minutes later he still couldn’t get up. After 2 hours passed he was still sitting in that chair. He was embarrassed to admit it when he told the story back, but it wasn’t until a little bit past the 2 hour mark that he thought to talk to Jesus about his predicament. 

He said, Jesus, are you here? 

He did not hear an audible answer, but felt something like a ripple of affirming presence inside his beat-down body reply saying, Yes, I am here. 

The young man said, Will I be able to get up out of this chair? 

I don’t know, said Jesus.

Then Jesus said, But I will sit with you forever.

In an instant the young man understood the teaching that “the love of God will protect you from nothing even as it unexplainably sustains you in all things.”

The young man did finally get up out of that chair and in the months that followed his body returned to full health. He wouldn’t change a thing about his season of sickness because it was in that wilderness that he experienced the full solidarity and sustaining love of Jesus with us in our suffering. 

I will sit with you forever.