Unlikely Comfort

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you...”

Isaiah 66:13a (NIV)

The comfort of a mother is a beautiful thing. It takes many forms, a gentle touch, a tender kiss, a look of understanding, a word of compassion, even a simple band-aid. The outward expressions are endless but the root is the same – love. A mother seems to know just what her child needs. She can make “it” feel better. That’s how it is with our Heavenly Father. He knows us intimately and completely and He comforts us – His children.

It has been nearly two years since my dad died. I have grieved. My family has grieved. But no one has grieved more or deeper than my mom. She and dad began “looking” at each other at age 13. Dad gave Mom her first kiss. He gave her her first ring – a beautiful black diamond and pearl with his first pay check when they were 16. Their lives were intricately entwined for the better part of 50 years. Though we can sympathize with her grief, we can not comprehend the depths of it, but the Lord does.

I know that when the Lord looks at my Mom, He sees her grief. He feels it and knows its every facet. His very nature is compassionate. When He withheld healing from my Dad He was exercising self-control because there was a greater good. Someday we’ll know what that was but for now, we watch as the Lord comforts my Mom in some pretty amazing ways.

Mom often goes to the cemetery to express her grief and to process her thoughts. She knows that Dad is not really there but it’s a place to let go of the tears, talk out the decisions of life and reminisce of days gone by. No one goes with her. That’s the way she’s wanted it since the very beginning. Yet she’s never there alone. God sends an unlikely companion to comfort her…a big, old black dog! It started on her very first trip. The old dog came out of nowhere and licked her tears. He laid his head in her lap and sat with her. He comes every time. We don’t know his name. He doesn’t seem to care. He just knows she needs a friend and so he waits with her.

Only God could have chosen such a comfort. He’s the perfect company for her there. Mom doesn’t feel she has to be tough or temper her tears. She doesn’t have to make sure that everything she says makes sense. She doesn’t have to be alone. The old dog comes without fail. His timing is uncanny. In fact it’s miraculous! He meets her before she’s parked her car. He walks her to the spot. Sometimes it’s obvious he’s been laying at Dad’s side. He’s oblivious to the cold. He doesn’t care what time of day Mom comes. He just does the bidding of the Father and comes to comfort God’s child.

I look forward to the day when Mom’s mourning is turned to gladness, when she has joy instead of sorrow. It’s coming. Some days I see glimpses of it. Ultimately, one day the Lord Himself will wipe away every tear from her eyes. Until then, I am thankful for that old dog.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth

had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city,

the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven

like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying,

“Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them,

and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow

or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Revelation 21:1-4 (New Living Translation)