For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
(Zephaniah 3:17 NLT)
Startled by the silence, I sat up in bed so I could see the neon red lights that told me it was three in the morning, time to feed the baby. But Andrew hadn’t made a sound. Was something wrong? Or was he sleeping through the night?
Wavering between panic and joy, I felt my way down the hall to the nursery and leaned over Andrew’s crib. I listened for the sound of his breathing and carefully rested my hand on his tiny chest to feel the gentle rhythm of its rising and falling.
Moonlight slipped through the blinds, helping me to see he was perfectly fine.
Most sane mothers would have gone back to bed, but not me. I stood there for a while delighting in my child. My heart simply longed to be with this little guy who set my days in motion with his cries and smiles.
How can I love someone this much? I wondered.
Even after Andrew started sleeping through the night regularly, I would still listen for him, hoping for an excuse to see if he was okay. And sometimes, while he was sleeping, I’d sneak into his room just because I wanted to be with him.
Whispering prayers over him, I’d ask God to calm his fears, fulfill his dreams, and lead my son’s steps to follow His. This continued for years. Even when Andrew and his brother were teenagers, I’d sneak into their rooms to pray over them while they were sleeping.
It didn’t matter that they weren’t doing a thing to make me proud or happy. In fact, they may have driven me crazy that day, but I still wanted to be with them just because they were mine.
God feels the exact same way about you, you know?
He watches over you and delights in you, not because you’re doing anything for Him, but simply because you are His.
He longs to quiet your heart with His love, to calm your fears, insecurities and doubts with His presence.
He loves you, and He loves to be with you, even while you are sleeping.
Lord, thank You for the reminder that You are always with me, watching over me, every minute of every day — even while I am sleeping. Help me believe this truth about Your love towards me and rest in it today.
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What a beautiful picture of a loving Momma and picture of God’s love for us, even though we can’t imagine how very much more He is capable of loving us! And the desire to be with us, Emmanuel, “God with us.” He wants to be with us, and just as babies and little children long to be with their parents and need relationship, that is so true of God’s children, us! Thank you for this analogy and picture we can identify with.
Please pray that my daughter and her husband would love their babies as God wants, and as you pictured. They are into extreme destructive philosophies for their babies, they have been deceived by the enemy. The babies are suffering much and will be traumatically effected for life due to their terrible actions and words, if our Lord does not intervene. Please pray for godly wisdom for them and us. Thank you, Renee.
Praying for your family HC. I pray that God will open their hearts, block the enemy influence, and teach them to love their children as He loves them.
Thank you Gail for caring to write back and your prayers, so good of you.
HC,
Praying for you & your family. May God heal & change the hearts of the parents. I pray for His wisdom & guidance to influence the parents.
(((((Hugs)))))
Beth, Thank you for your kind and encouraging words and prayers!!! Also thank you for the Hugs, and hugs to you also, Dear Sister!
HC,
I am praying for your sweet babies and their parents, asking Jesus to break every deception, every stronghold, every lie that has wrapped around their hearts – and bring healing, freedom, forgiveness, truth, grace and wholeness in HIS name. There is power in your prayers, and ours, a cord of many strands that cannot be broken. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There is power in Your name.
This is glorious truth, Renee! I love being reminded that without losing one iota of His dignity, God is perfectly smitten with us.
Me too!! We are HIS delight. Unimaginable yet true!
Renee,
What a wonderful analogy of God’s great love for us. He never slumbers nor sleeps. (Which means He doesn’t wake up to see the red numerals saying it’s 3 am. lol). To think that He rejoices over me with singing – the Lord of the universe oohhing and aahhing over little ole me…I am loved! Beautiful post!
Blessings,
Bev xx
You are indeed HIS beloved, Bev. His pride and joy. Oh how great is our Father’s love.
What a lovely way to demonstrate how God loves us – spoke right to my hear tonight. Thank you
I am so grateful for our Daddy’s unconditional, tender hearted, fiercely attentive LOVE.
Beautiful ❤️ Thank you for sharing!
❤❤❤❤
Thank you for these beautiful words about the Love of our God! . Just what my heart needed today!
Renee,?
I have memorized Zephaniah 3:17 & marvel at it. How can a holy & righteous God love me-a sinner? I am in awe that He calls me beloved & woos me to Himself as a mother does her children. I am super thankful & grateful to God for His unfailing love to me. I have been witness to two miracles & continue to marvel at how He works. May we all love each other the way God loves us.
Blessings 🙂
Sleep has been my nemesis lately, desperately needing it but never seemingly getting enough. My heart and mind consumed with so many things. Today these were the words He wanted me to hear. Thank you for being a willing vessel for our loving God to use.
How tender is God’s timing. Praying for your heart to rest in His sovereignty tonight. For your thoughts to quiet in His love and for your tired body to sink into His comforting embrace. In Jesus Name, amen. xoxo
❤️❤️❤️
Renee, Thank you so much for this beautiful and timely post. I remember praying over my own son’s crib…and then over his bed the night before his wedding and all the times in between. Precious moments. and to know that my God loves me that much too! Oh My! I needed these words as I have felt bullied, ganged up on and worthless this past week due to a friend’s unkind words and actions. Anxiety has also been rearing its ugly head due to too many life changes in the course of 3 years..divorce…new job…new home…new life…and as I cry out in the middle of the night to my heavenly Father I sometimes wonder if he hears me. This post assures me he does, and even sings over me. Thank you again. Blessings.
Dear Renee, I have already felt peace after reading your comforting article about how he watches over us while we sleep. This past year has been challenging with my one and only son moving from TN to Arizona. The first time he’s ever been in love . He is now 27. He lived at home till he was 25 and hAD MOVED INTO AN APARTMENT A YEAR BEFORE HE MOVED AWAY. I want him to be happy. I have some trouble with depression and anxiety which got much worse back in December. I had to switch medicines. I have improved. I guess just lots of stress. I’m 62 and still work full time. My husband has decided to draw early retirement. We are trying to get our house under control. I am not a very good house keeper. This has cauused lots of stress between he and I. Please just pray for peace and healing in our lives. Thank you so much , Teresa
This is beautiful and reassuring. Thanks for sharing.
Please would you pray for my husband. He has a spinal cord injury and is Quadriplegic and has dreadful anxiety about not being able to move. This is particularly bad at night when he panics and becomes very agitated. I have read him your post ‘While You Are Sleeing’. Thank you so much for this.
Thank you for your post. I needed to hear it badly. May God bless you.
Dearest HC,
Just as Renee wrote these private moments about her and her son, I too checked on him to be sure he was breathing. There is something in a child’s sleeping body that creates a wonderous sense of peace. And as I watched, his mouth would move and I would hear soft sounds. I always believed he was talking to God, or Jesus, or angels, maybe singing baby songs to exalt Our Father. I was allowed to be part of this special connection to all of heaven:-), no matter how age, or his choices as were you. I pray for my grandchildren everyday for a hedge of protection and also put on them the Armor of God. I have a book, “The Power of a PRAYING Grandparent” by Stormie Omartian. It has kept me focused and has topical chapters, such as “Lord, Protect my Grandchildren from Any Danger or Threat”. I pray for you and your grandchildren.