An Arm Around Our Shoulders

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Psalm 147:3-5

As I'm sure many of you are, I stay pretty busy, being involved in quite a few things. I have a full time job in retail, I'm the music director at my church, I write two blogs, I write novels that I hope to have published one day, and I write for a local sports media website. Every one of those positions can be rewarding, and on Friday night, I witnessed something that helps make the last of those jobs so.

Part of the job with the website includes attending local high school football games so that I can write recaps for the site. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy that. I love seeing the passion and the excitement from the players and coaches as I walk up and down the sidelines. Because of access my position with the website gives, I'm privy to a lot of things that the fans in the stands never see. I see all the ups and downs on the sidelines up close and personal, I hear speeches from the coaches, and get to be in the middle of post game rallies.

Friday night though, I saw something while walking behind one of the coaches waiting for an interview that warmed my heart. There was a player that had had a tough game and was feeling very frustrated. His coach learned of it and responded by walking over to the player, putting his arm around him, and as we say in the South, "loving on him a little."

That's one of the marks of a great coach. He knew his player was feeling discouraged, so he tried to give some comfort and let it be known that he cares about him. I've been thinking about that moment a lot over the last two days. The more I thought about it, the more it reminds me of what our Heavenly Father does for us.

We all have frustrations in life, but thank God, when we are brokenhearted, He's always there to put His arm around us and remind us that we're loved. He has a complete understanding of our difficulties, and He has power them. Just as He calls every one of the stars by name, He knows all of our names. Just as that coach did to that player on Friday night, He will draw us close to Himself, one on one when needed.

I already had plans to make this post, but this afternoon, I was given more reason to do so. Less than an hour ago, I learned that one of my aunts passed away. It was unexpected. Honestly, I still haven't completely grasped it yet. Even so, I know that my Saviour is near. He's not only near to me, He's near to every member of the family. Whereas a coach can only be in one place at one time and can get personal with only one player at a time, God is everywhere and can give us all personal attention at one time.

When our hearts break, the Great Physician is there to heal. He'll put His arm around us and "love on us" better than anyone else could ever do. Frustrated? Heartbroken? Jesus is there for you.