Rescue by Day, Comfort by Night

Last Updated on January 25, 2024

Are you in need of some comfort from the Lord today? In this post, one mom shares how God comforts us, sometimes in the most unexpected ways and places. 

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I chased a story today. It was a museum of super cool artifacts for a local publication in which I enjoy freelance writing.

I was excited for a day away from home. A day free from my thoughts, my worries, and my anxious fears. I invited (okay, forced) my two sons to join me on the hour and a half journey to a small town in southern Missouri that I have never even heard of.

Between random teenage angsty comments, pleas for a bathroom, ‘I’m hungry!’, ‘This is boring’, ‘I hate this music’, and ‘Mom, WHY are we doing this?!’, I tried to keep my mood in check.

When we reached the museum, which I had recently heard about from the editor of the publication, I was delighted to find it was much bigger than I anticipated. Surely there would be something my sons would find amusing.

Sure enough, they were invested for about 30 minutes. Then, it was me madly snapping pictures and trying to get article-worthy information before the teenage meltdown ensued.

Teen moms, you feel this! They are sort of like babies; if they don’t eat, drink, or use the restroom every three (ish) hours, there is a mighty uncomfortable mom price to pay.

In the dark of night

One of the last exhibits the owner showed us was in a room located toward the back of the museum, with a black light. The feature was uranium rocks, which mystically glow in the dark when enabled by the black light. However, to me, there was a much more fascinating treasure trove in this room.

There were two separate paintings, both by a local artist. When the lights were on, a beautiful painting of a Jesus-in-motion rescuing a solitary, frightened lamb dangling on the edge of a steep cliff was displayed.

When the lights went off and the mysterious black light was activated, there was the same graceful face of Jesus, only this time he was lovingly holding the lamb in His gentle and protective arms.

Having rescued the wayward lamb in the light of day, but gloriously holding him lovingly and gracefully in the dark of night.

How deep. How moving. How inspirational and absolutely metaphoric for a current life situation I am facing.

I know Jesus will rescue me from the brink of the edge of life’s treacherous and rocky cliff. He has done it before. He will do it again. I trust His process, His will, His timing. 

What really touched me, however, was the painting that we were only able to witness in the dark. Jesus faithfully holding the once-lost lamb. The very same precious lamb He rescued in the light of day.

Sometimes, the ‘rescue’ is the easy part. It is the loneliness, the isolation, and the tear-soaked pillow in the depths of each following night that prove how much we really need a Savior.

Knowing that Jesus holds me in the darkness, comforts me in the depths of night, and wraps His arms around me when the darkness threatens to envelop me—that is a comfort like none other.

I pray for the eyes reading this. Eyes belonging to one that has possibly been rescued by the light of day but continues to wrestle uncomfortably in the darkness. Feeling frightened, alone, rejected, and abandoned. Pain is always worse at night. Heartbreak thrives in the darkness. Lies abound in the recesses of our minds, told by the enemy in the darkest of the deepest night. Yet, so does the saving grace of our Heavenly Father. A comfort, guardian, protector, and ultimate healer.

I am grateful for the heroic rescue. Even more so for the comfort that comes from my Lord after the rescue. During the darkest of nights, when I need Him the most.