If I Got Lost at Grand Central Station
I can still feel the tears trickling down my face. I was sitting at a friend’s wedding listening to a member of their wedding party read the 1965 book I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg. My husband gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and a kiss on the top of my head, as if to say, “You are okay.” I noticed the friends next to us concerned and leaning forward to look down the aisle. I had to pull it together. I searched for a tissue and found one at the bottom of my dainty clutch. I discreetly dabbed the corners of my eyes.
Then the reader got to this stanza:
“And I like you because,
If we go away together
And If we are in Grand Central Station
And If I get lost
Then you are the one that is yelling for me.”
I slid my hand into my husband’s. I put my head against his shoulder and tried to stifle my ugly cry. You know the type: snot bubbles, tears welling up, and mascara smudging all over. At that moment, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude. What had I done to deserve this forever wedding date next to me? Just like the poem, I had been lost traveling before. And more than once, my husband has been the one to call out my name. I have been blessed with his love.
Like most relationships, my husband has seen me at my worst and my best. Through it all, he gives me a kiss every morning and whenever he leaves the house, to remind me of how much I am loved. But even this seemingly perfect love is full of mistakes and can be messy. Though we try, we are both married to a sinner.
Perhaps you have been recently disappointed or hurt by a friend, family member, or spouse. Maybe you feel like the character in the poem above, lost in the terminal, waiting for someone to call out your name. Well, I have the best news for you!
There is someone who loves you perfectly.
Someone who has stayed with you, even when friends and family get too busy or leave.
In fact, this someone has loved you longer than anyone else has. This loving someone is God.
Psalm 136:6: “Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.”
Human beings of all ages need love. Most of us long for the support, kindness, solace, and comfort that love brings. Though God cannot offer a physical hug, he can speak to us through Scripture. Scripture is God speaking to you. Like a loving mentor and friend, God has the perfect advice for you within the pages of the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness …”
Unlike people who abandon us or let us down, God does not send us out to navigate life on our own. When Jesus died and his earthly body ascended to heaven, God lovingly sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with the disciples. Likewise, through our baptism, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and guides and comforts us. His presence within us is another heaven-sent reminder that we are loved and never alone.
Romans 5:5: “…God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
God’s love doesn't mean everything is always perfect and happy. God is perfect. We are not. Though all of our sins deserve punishment, through our faith in our Savior Jesus, we are redeemed. We may not always feel God’s presence, but by faith we know He is there.
Ephesians 3:17-19: “…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Feeling disappointed by a friend’s, family member’s, or spouse’s love can hurt. Regardless of what season you are in, you can feel lost and in need of someone to “call out your name.”
I pray you remember God’s perfect love.
God’s love for you is unending and greater than you can imagine.
You are never alone.