There is only one Person I can go to at times like this, one Person Who knows me through and through. Who understands the situation. Who listens without judging. God is my wonderful Counselor. I can speak my mind and my heart to Him. I can place everything that I am worried about into His hands. He will show me the way. No human being, even my most loved ones, can do for me what God can do. God is total Wisdom, Truth, Kindness, Love.
There are, for all of us, times of complete loneliness. Times when we are on our own to think, to judge, to act. No one can take the responsibility from us. It rests heavily on our shoulders alone. But, if we are honest, we know we have limited minds. We are frail human beings. Our hearts quail. What if we make the wrong decision? What if we make things worse?
These are the times to come to God, our patient Listener. In a quiet room, even in the darkness, we can weep, we can groan, we can lay ourselves bare before Him. We have to trust Him. We have to make the choice to fling ourselves into the abyss of surrender, to abandon any pretense of being in control.
"Turn, Lord, save my life; in Your mercy, rescue me....I am wearied with sighing; all night long, tears drench my bed; my couch is soaked with weeping. My eyes are dimmed with sorrow..." (Psalm 6: 5, 7-8)
We know He is the One Who first conceived of us before we were even in the thoughts of our parents, before we were even in our mothers' wombs. He chose us to exist. Our Mighty God stoops down to us, rests in our hearts, ready to be one with us in love. Ready to listen to all we have to say. Our Faith tells us this. We have to rely on our Faith to come to Him now, in so much pain that there is no where else to turn.
"O God, by Your Name, save me..... O God, hear my prayer. Listen to the words of my mouth." (Psalm 54:3-4.)
This Wonderful Counselor sees from age to age, hears from age to age; all lives, all motives, all prayers, all actions are before His eyes in the Now, because He is the God Who calls Himself "I Am." This God is both Father and Mother to us, One Who creates, One Who nurtures, One Who is Justice, One Who is Wisdom and Mercy. This God knows the vast panorama of existence and holds existence in oneness with Himself. Nothing and no one is foreign to this God.
We can place ourselves in this God's hands without fear. We can ask the One Who sees all, Knows all, to enlighten our minds, to calm us with peace, to help us with just and merciful decision-making, to help us understand that some things pass all understanding. Our joyful Listener asks us to trust that all will be well with us and with all whom we love. All will be made right and well by the One of whom it is said that the Plans of His heart last from age to age. Our Eternity will be spent praising His unfathomable, merciful plans for all of us. His plans that connect all beings and all Nature in unbreakable bonds of love and need.
Our Wonderful Counselor, our Mighty God, listens to our breaking hearts and finally His peace drifts into our spirits, His calm pervades throughout our beings. He tells us
"Choose to act always in love, in justice, in truth and kindness. If you choose to act in My Name and follow My Ways, step forward, and I will guide your steps, always, in all situations, even the most dark and bitter. I know you, through and through. For, always, you are my child. Even if you stumble, I will pick you up. Even if you sin, even if you make mistakes, the final outcome is in My hands. No responsibility rests totally on your shoulders. My vision surpasses yours; trust Me. I NOT ONLY COUNSEL YOU, I ACT FOR YOU."
His message softens, strengthens, and expands our hearts until we can sing in praise "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace..." For the One Who listens so mightily to us and hears our night terrors is no more threatening than a simple Babe Who holds our finger and gazes at us with innocent eyes. The Babe of Bethlehem, Prince of Peace, Perfect Innocence and Simplicity, is always worthy of our perfect trust.