To Take One’s Sufferings (posted from my iPhone)

Late Wednesday night my 4 year-old son wandered into our room saying that he was scared of the dark. I told him that I would take him back to bed and lay with him until he fell asleep again.
On our way to his room, he made a strange detour into the kitchen. Before I could finish asking him what he was doing, he vomited his dinner out all over the kitchen floor.
It had been nearly 3 years since he last threw-up so I expected him to be terrified over what had just happened. But he was not. He was brave and with steady composure, vomit on his pajamas, and a tear in his eye he said;” At least I didn’t die.”
He faced this horrible aspect of life with bravery and character, but I knew that he was suffering a great deal.
For 24 hours we watched our energetic, bright-eyed boy turn into a hollow-eyed lethargic, heap of skin and bones who made himself at home on the couch between vomiting.
And when he woke up this morning; he was fine! Praise God!
But now 24 hours later, my 10 month-old daughter Kylie is in the ssme position- vomiting for the first time in her little life. And just like her brother before her, we are forced to watch our ever-crawling, ever-babbling, curious-dark-blue-eyed little girl turn into a frightened, confused, lump of flesh who takes refuge in her mother’s bosom.
It’s at times like these when the reality of your intense love for your children becomes more clear than ever.
And as a father who grieves over the suffering of his children; I want nothing more than to take their illness, their problems, their fears upon myself so that they can be free. It’s times like these when I am reminded that I would do absolutely ANYTHING for the health, safety, sanity, happiness, and spiritual well-being of my children.
It makes the fact that God sent His only Son to suffer in our place so much more real and meaningful. It reminds us that God would do anything for us- and He did.
It also convicts me because I realize that there are SO many people that I wouldn’t do ANYTHING for- people that Christ gave everything for.
I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul, who in Romans 9:3, wished that he were cursed and seperated from Christ rather than his fellow Israelites (God’s chosen people) who reject the Truth.
How many people would come to know Jesus if our hearts were in the same place as Paul’s?