When we heard the news that our not-yet-adopted son was hospitalized and in serious condition, an actual storm rolled in. Dark thunder clouds precipitated a powerful wind that rattled even our double-paned windows, and an eeriness loomed around us. From our living room, where we could normally see the Yellow River, the sky was darker than dark. Strangely, our apartment building itself was still bathed in light. The sunlight streaming in through our kitchen windows was brighter than we had ever seen before.

Maybe this was what the Israelites experienced in the land of Goshen during the intense and terrible plagues, when God continued to give light to His people, during three whole days of “deep and terrifying darkness” for the Egyptians. (Exodus 10:21-23)

God allowed us to witness an amazing contrast that day when our adoption path took a sharp turn downward: a destructive storm out of nowhere matched by the power of hope-filled brightness. It was a visible sign that He would protect us by His all-encompassing light in the midst of our unexpected storm. It wasn’t a promise that He would dispatch a life boat to rescue us out of the storm but that He would not leave us alone to flounder by ourselves.

He whispered in the light of that life-changing moment, “I’ll be there with you.”

“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called you by name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.” 
Isaiah 43:1-3a (MSG)

In the following days and weeks, as we faced huge unknowns about the kind of recovery our then-seven-year-old son would make after he awoke from his six-day coma with viral encephalitis, our anchor of truth was that we could trust in God’s presence. He would never leave us alone in the darkness and He would continue to whisper words of peace to us each difficult step of the way.