When God put His arms around me....

by Ruth Lim

One of the moments when I felt God put His arms around me was when Samuel was around 10 years old. He had recently joined the St. Paul's Boys' Choir and was picked by director Martin Green to sing a solo for a presentation at ComiCon.

But he didn't tell me he had been chosen. Parents were invited to come listen the night of the dress rehearsal.

So here's the San Diego Master Chorale, with a hugely important guest conductor, and the conductor turns to Martin and says, "Boy soloist." Martin looks at Sam, who gets up on stage and promptly drops his music.

My heart stopped.

A dad sitting next to me puts his arm around me and says, "Breathe, Mom." I get up and walk to the back of the hall in order to start breathing again, and sit down in the darkness to watch.

Sam calmly picks up his music and starts to sing. It was flawless—this little voice soaring beautifully with the whole Master Chorale.

That's when I felt the Lord put His arm around me, saying, "There. You need not have worried. I am with him."

After all Sam had been through, I'd worried about him—is he going to be OK? can he do this? All the things moms worry about, plus. And here I was, in a darkened theater, listening.

"You need not have worried. I am with him."

(This is reprinted from "40 Days of Devotions in Lent", 2011.) 


Have you ever felt God's arms around you? What was it like?