She
came to Him, as she often did, wrought with anxiety. And He took her in His
arms, as He often did, to soothe her.
“I
really need this,” she whimpered, “I’m worried sick about it. It’s just so
important.”
He
nodded. “I know how important it is to you. It is to Me, too.”
She
raised worried eyes to meet His. The little wrinkles on her nose and across her
forehead deepened. He gazed at her, wishing He could see more of the wrinkles
at the corners of her eyes, the laughter ones. But today, these were the ones
to see. She whispered, barely daring to believe, “Then You’ll do it? It’ll
happen?”
His
placed His gentle hand on her head. “If I say ‘no’, will it still be ok?”
She
froze. Sucked in her breath. For several long seconds, He listened to her mind
reel in a frenzy. Then it slowed, and she breathed out a long, shuddering sigh.
Tears welled up in her eyes. “If you say ‘no,’ it’ll be ok. It’ll be hard. But
it’ll be ok.” The screaming thoughts began to quiet, the knots in her stomach
began to unwind, her head stopped throbbing quite so hard. He took her chin in
His hand and tilted her face up to look at His.
“The
answer is No,” He said softly.
And He
held her many minutes afterward, as she cried herself out.
“Why
not?” she asked finally.
“You’ll
see,” He replied.
“I
don’t like surprises,” she muttered, as she pulled away to go back to her busy
schedule.
“I
know,” He chuckled, “But I do. I don’t experience them, you see. But I do so
love to give them.”
The
hint of a smile glimmered on her face. “Ok, then. So be it.” And she stepped
back out into the agitated world that was her life.
His
smile faded as He watched her go. If all went according to plan (and it would
this time, of course), she would get what she wanted. There would be a lot of
pain along the way, but she would make it to the end, and receive her reward.
He was sorry to know she’d be hurting so much to reach her goal, but at least
He’d spare her some of the pain. He nodded. Yes, at least she would hurt a
little less.
He
turned to watch her for a few minutes. There she was, taking deep breaths to
calm herself down. He smiled. Now. And the phone rang. She checked the
number; her brow crinkled. Unknown. She answered. He expression went from
confusion, to glee, to happy tears. She lifted her eyes and mouthed, thank-you!
She
didn’t know what was coming. He did, but she didn’t. Yes, there were certainly
trials ahead, but for now, she was happy. And so was He.
“See
you later,” He murmured.