I am grateful for everyday that I am able to get on my feet and do the things that God has called me to do. I must admit, however, that some of my days–like everyone else’s–are long and challenging.

One of those challenging days sometimes back included a lengthy meeting in Macon; I left home before daylight and got home after dark, so bedtime was a much anticipated conclusion for the day. As circumstances would have it, our youngest granddaughter spent the night with us, and as is the case with her, she was a difficult one to share our bed with. With hands and feet in every direction, Addyson crawled all over our bed (including all over me!). Gale finally carried her to another room and rocked the little bundle of energy off to sleep.

A couple hours after I finally drifted off to sleep, I was awakened by a sound that my dozing mind could not identify. When Gale told me my cell phone was ringing, I regained enough consciousness to attempt to answer it, only to drop it on the floor before I could press the right button. By then the caller had disconnected and called the house phone.

We do not routinely get calls at one o’clock in the morning from friends to tell us how much they love and appreciate us, so such calls are inevitably either the wrong number or someone needing us badly. It was not a wrong number in this case!

After talking to the caller, I struggled to get myself together and dressed so that I could go attend to a family almost an hour away. I suppose my wife was trying to cheer me up as she offered her words of encouragement: “It’s good that you got two hours of sleep.” She was accurate in her statement, but at that time I was more focused on the several additional hours of rest that I had longed for, but had to forego, than on the two that I had enjoyed so much. She saw what I should appreciate (from the comfort and coziness of the bed that she continued to enjoy!!), while I focused on what I had been deprived of. It is interesting how differently two people can perceive the same situation.

God often sees our circumstances in a different view than we do. We do not always see how urgently we need Him to spare us from eternal destruction, yet He saw our great need for spiritual salvation before we existed, and provided the only solution: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Romans 4:25 points to both Christ’s suffering and His resurrection: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (New International Version).

I saw a posting on Facebook once that stated, “I come from a long line of sinners like me.” I do not know who originated that statement or what the context was, but I do know that it describes the condition of every human and our need for Christ. As Romans 3:23 declares, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

No matter how you view life and your present circumstances, remember that God saw your need before you realized how much you need His love and forgiveness. And if you have not acknowledged your need to turn your life over to Christ, I trust that you will see and act upon that need without delay.