meanwhile...

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along if we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. (Romans 8:26, Msg)

Reading over this in church this morning totally distracted me to several different thoughts. First, I don't know why I am blogging so much. My track record proves I'm not very consistent. But I forgot how much I like to write. So, this is a good outlet for me to get back into.

One thought I had after reading over that verse is how restless Sean was last night. He wasn't sleeping well, and therefore, neither was I. He kept tossing, turning, mumbling, scratching his feet. Last thing I remember was seeing the clock read about 2:37 or something. I played Sudoku on my phone to try and make myself sleepy. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sean's restless night was annoying. I wanted to sleep. I was tired. That verse triggered my thinking. I wonder if God gets annoyed with my restlessness.

Restlessness and sighing and mumbling and moaning...those are often the times we don't know what to say or do.

I picked up a lady and her two kids for church this morning. Her youngest, a two year old, doesn't speak well. Yet when she wants something, she will yell or scream. Normal communication for a two year old? Maybe. As the screams were irritating me, I remembered the verse again.

How frustrating for her to not be able to ask for or get what she wants. She doesn't know the words. It's not like she knows the words and is just so frustrated can't think of them. She doesn't know the words to even recall them!

How many times have I been in a situation like that? I know the words to communicate. But I get so impatient and don't want to take the time to communicate clearly.

But when I'm truly at a place where I'm tired and can't go on...God is right there alongside me. I love that picture. Alongside. I first heard that word when I was an RA at OCC. We were trained as RA's to come alongside the students on our watch to help them. When you come alongside someone, you can help them better. You can't push people ahead of you. You can't drag them behind you. But you can walk at their pace alongside them. I love that. That's where God is with me right now.

He knows my worries. He knows my fears. He knows my questions. He knows my doubts. He knows my weaknesses. He's still there alongside me. Because I wait with hope that He will carry me. Because I wait with hope that He will help me.