He Reached Her First

By Jennifer Greene-Sullivan

There are moments when gratitude rises so quickly that words struggle to keep up. This week was one of those moments. On Tuesday, my daughter Sophia sat stopped at a red light in Dublin, Georgia; through no fault of her own, she became involved in a three-car accident. Like every mother, my heart raced as I waited to hear she was okay.

As I remained on the phone with her, I listened from miles away while the EMTs assessed her injuries. Then, in the pouring rain, a stranger walked to her car and asked if he could pray for her. I heard every word as Sophia cried, and the man prayed. Slowly, her breathing steadied, and peace began to replace fear. Before I could reach my daughter, the Lord had already reached her.

That man was evidence of the Lord’s care. In that moment, I realized God hadn’t simply protected my daughter; He had surrounded her with His presence. He chose to comfort her through someone willing to stop in the rain and pray, and when I learned Sophia was going to be okay, gratitude overwhelmed me. What could have ended so differently became another reminder that God’s faithful hand had been watching over her all along.

As I thanked the Lord that evening, I realized Tuesday wasn’t the beginning of His faithfulness. It was simply another reminder of it. Looking back over the years, I can trace His fingerprints across the lives of all five of my children. He has protected them in ways I have seen, and in ways I will probably never know. He has carried them through brokenness, answered desperate prayers, redirected wandering paths, and surrounded them with His mercy time and again.

Every prayer I have whispered over my children through the years met the same faithful God who stood beside Sophia in the rain that afternoon. He has heard every tearful plea and every desperate cry from this mama’s heart. Long before I knew how He would answer, He was already at work. He has never once abandoned my children. He has always been faithful.

As mothers, we spend years buckling car seats, holding little hands while crossing busy streets, checking fevers through the night, and praying over bedrooms after our children fall asleep. Then one day they begin driving their own cars, making their own decisions, and living lives we cannot control. That realization can be frightening unless we remember one beautiful truth. Our children have never belonged to us alone. They have always belonged to the Lord.

Psalm 121 has become especially precious to me, and it reminds me that God’s watchful eye never closes because He never slumbers or sleeps. He keeps our children when they leave our driveways, when they travel roads we cannot travel with them, and when they face moments we cannot fix. His faithfulness is not limited by distance, circumstances, or our inability to be there. He is always present.

“The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
Psalm 121:7–8 (ESV)

Sometimes His faithfulness looks like protection from danger. Sometimes it looks like peace in the middle of fear. Sometimes it looks like an ordinary person who stops in the pouring rain because the Lord prompted him to pray. However He chooses to work, His character never changes. God remains faithful.

Today, my heart is simply grateful. Grateful for another answered prayer. Grateful for another reminder that God keeps His promises. Grateful that while I cannot always be with my children, He reaches them first. He has always been—and always will be—the Keeper of my children.

Scriptural Focus

Psalm 121:7–8 (ESV)

“The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

Challenge

Think about the ways God has watched over your family through the years. Thank Him not only for the moments you recognized His hand, but also for the countless times He protected you or your loved ones without you ever knowing. Then place your family back into the hands of the faithful Keeper who never slumbers or sleeps.

Prayer

Father, thank You for reaching our children before we ever can. Thank You for Your constant faithfulness and for surrounding them with Your presence, even when we cannot be beside them. Help us to trust You more than our fears and to rest in the assurance that Your loving hands are always holding those we love. Thank You for being their Keeper and ours. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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