I Need Thee Every Hour

Little Bel,

Over the past few weeks, especially while you've been "full term" (anytime after 37ish weeks), I've been asking God to speak.  He made Himself heard to me so often and clearly early on in the pregnancy, which was so encouraging and strengthening for me.  That's when He told me that you were the end result of something new He was doing in me (in us), something more beautiful than anything I've known.  I've lived on His words throughout maternity, like a dog continues gnawing at a bone that has long since been licked clean--just the reminder of that smell and taste has been sustaining. 

Lately, I've felt the need for a new word from Him, so I've been asking. The day before last, I got a song in my head that I needed the rest of the words to--"I Need Thee Every Hour." 

The Lower Lights – I Need Thee Every Hour

I sung what I knew, and looked up the rest when I got home that day.  I found out the story behind the writer of those lyrics, whose name was Annie S. Hawks.  Apparently, she was young when she married, and found herself a housewife and mother of 2 at the age of 37--full of joy and peace and contentment--when the lyrics came to her.  The song got really popular, but mainly for those needing comfort in times of suffering and, for years, Annie didn't understand how something she wrote in a time of joy in her life could be used by God in this way. A few years later, her husband died--and she missed him incredibly. This song came back to her mind--especially a line that says, 

"I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

And she realized what meaningful work God had done through her many years ago--the words of her own song comforted her.  She remembered how the Lord sustains us and empowers us for every good work that He calls us to.  And whether we feel joyful or we're grieving and desperate for comfort--the need for our Savior, our Healer, is every close and constant. And her writing is said to be based on the verses in John 15 that speak of our absolute need to "abide in the vine"--the intimate connection with our Lord.

John 15
New International Version (NIV)

The Vine and the Branches
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

I've been thinking over what this means to me, personally, over the last couple of days, because often the Lord gives me a bit and then watches while I process it (like a puzzle or a game).  Well, it speaks to a very deep insecurity and building fear within me that's been surfacing as you get closer to being born--the questions over, "Will I be good enough?" "Can I do this well?"  "Will I even enjoy it?" "What will people think of me?"  (and the like)

You have to just shake your head and enjoy it when our Lord responds to something inside you that you haven't even said out loud to anyone. He's showing you, in that moment, that He is all God and very in love with you...to calm the storm brewing up. 

The answer to my questions, my fears and insecurities:  You will NEED ME EVERY HOUR, in joy and pain...and I will BE THERE.

Thank you, Ishi.
Come soon, Isobel Ruby. We're ready for you.