Late night phone calls

As I sit here in the dark I find that I have come to hate late night phone calls. We were yanked from our sleep this morning at 4 AM when the phone rang and we got the news that my wife’s mother had fallen. Not good news!

When Brian was in one of his active phases, a phase in which his addiction had full control, I found myself staying up to wee hours in the morning just waiting for a phone call. My want was that it would be Brian just checking in to let us know he was ok. My fear was that it would be a call from a third party giving us unwanted news. Both had happened so often before but, it was not something I got used to. I was always hanging on to the edge of sleep, waiting.

On December 25th 2014 at 3:14 AM we got the call. We got the worst late night call that one could ever get. For me it was validation that late night calls just aren’t good. I don’t want them. None-the-less we still get them. The phone rings at 4 AM and my first thoughts are always is that Brian, is he calling to let us know he’ll be late or that he’s ok but going to spend the night with a buddy. Then with a heavy heart, I remember. But, if it’s not Brian who could it be. Ultimately I prepare myself for the onslaught of bad news. I suppose my biggest issue with these calls is that I find I am helpless. There is nothing I can do to fix whatever the problem might be. I end up holding on for the ride that is to come.

In contrast I wonder how our Father must feel about late night calls. I know He waits patiently for us to call. His heart aches for the pain that causes us finally to break down and to call to Him in our need. But, He is filled with joy that the call came. Why? Because He can actually fix the problem, fix us. There is nothing too big or too small that He can’t take care of. All we need to do is call on Him. Not that He promises a life without pain and sorrow but rather a life where our souls can be at rest. A life where we are reassured that we are not alone and our Father knows the depth of each hurt, each struggle and each limit. A life where we are prepared to answer the late night calls knowing we are not alone and that help is right next to us. I don’t want the late night calls but, I no longer fear them.

December 25th 2014, 3:14 AM was a devastating late night call for me, a call of deliverance for God and a call of salvation for Brian.

Romans 10:12-13

(12) For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on Him, (13) for, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.