I didn’t expect to burst out crying in the middle of a Christian movie on TBN the other night. We were watching The Woodcarver. There’s a flashback where the title character learns his wife is dying. They grasped each other, and I lost it.

“That’s what it was like!” I cried to my wife. The harrowing awfulness, the overwhelming emotion, threw me back to that horrific day the summer of my 16th year, when my dad came home from Walter Reed hospital ashen, my mom flying thru the door a few minutes later; the two disappearing into their bedroom.

An IED went off in my heart, exploding my very being. I pretended to return to my reading, but I knew. And it soon proved true. Dad’s cancer was back. There would be no stopping it. No stopping the shattering of my mother. No stopping the desolation. The emptiness. The loneliness. The Darkness.

The only comfort was this recurring image in my mind of a vast black sky and landscape broken only by the light from a distant manger. I would later understand its meaning. “Come towards me,” the Lord was saying, “I’ve got this.”

He’s Got This

All day Wednesday, seemingly for no particular reason, I found myself repeatedly saying “God’s got this.” No urgency. No clue what the “this” was. Just a plain “God’s got this.” So shallow and nonchalant was the statement I started thinking, “Hey, that would make a nice line of t-shirts. Worked for the ‘Life is Good’ people!”

I should have guessed the Lord put it on my heart for a meaningful reason.

Last evening, the email came. A friend had been to the emergency room with his wife over some back pain. The source was no strain, tear or fracture. Doctors found a mass of tumors. Cancer was likely attacking her again. This afternoon, another friend revealed that her spouse’s substance abuse issue had again reared its head in an ugly way.

Gratefully, they are people of faith with an army of prayer warriors already engaged in the battle. And I know there’s a voice, strong and assured, right there with both couples, saying, “I’ve got this.”

Jesus never promised us a romp through a rose garden. But through the thorns and nails by which he bore our sins and sickness he promised to carry us through our struggles.

See what he said:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Three of the most eloquent, beautiful, powerful verses in the whole Bible … in the whole world. All meaning one thing: “I’ve got this.”

When you are sitting in a hospital waiting room, God promises He’s in the chair next to you. He “will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘fear not, I will help you.'” (Isaiah 41:13) He’s got all of creation to run, but He’s not budging from your side.

He’s got this.

Maybe your job is in turmoil. Maybe your kid is hanging with the wrong crowd. Maybe the world is telling you your cause is lost. Maybe the news is telling you the world is lost. Maybe someone you love is insisting you are worthless. Maybe you are telling yourself the same thing.

But the Lord wants you to know right now, right at this hour, that He is your creator and champion.

The Father is saying,”I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and I will deliver you.” (Isaiah 46:4)

Your Father is saying, “I’ve Got This!”

Prayer: Lord, you say “have courage, for I have overcome the world.” Thank you for that inward assurance that you are in control of my life, carrying me where I need carrying, fighting for me where I need fighting. Thank you for being in the waiting rooms, hospital rooms, bedrooms and boardrooms; wherever we face a harrowing challenge that shakes us to our being. This day we pray for healing, deliverance and peace. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen!