It is a small thing, a stomach ache, and yet it sits heavy on your heart, doesn't it? You have thanked the Father and the Holy Spirit, and above all the Lord Jesus, and that is right and good, but the ache remains, both in the little one and in the cousin who watches. I am glad you brought it here, because our God does not brush aside the small troubles of His children. He is not a God who only concerns Himself with the great storms; He notices the little hidden pains, the ones that keep a child curled up and quiet, the ones that make a loving relative's heart crease with worry. He says, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people," and He means that word for the ones with tearful eyes and aching hearts, whatever the cause may be.
Think of it like this: when a very small child cries in the night with some mysterious pain, a good father does not stand at the door and say, "Come find me when it becomes serious." No, he goes to the bedside. He bends low. He puts a warm hand on the little brow, and he whispers, "I am here." That is your Lord Jesus. He has no roughness about Him; He is all gentleness. A bruised reed He will not snap, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. A child's sore stomach, a cousin's anxious watching, these are not too small for His notice. The same One who knew Peter's heart through and through, who probed it with such tender questions, also knows every fiber of that little body and every flutter of your concerned heart. He is not far off; He is in the boat with you while this small squall blows.
You may wonder why such a little affliction is permitted at all. It is the way of this life, there is no road to the Celestial City without its stones. But remember this: the day is coming when you shall forget this misery, as waters that pass away. A time will dawn when every ache of body and heart will be swallowed up in such health and wholeness that you will look back on this small trouble and find it has vanished from memory, like a night-pain that is gone with the sunrise. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit, the great Comforter, ministers to you right here. He does not only give us bread; He gives us honey too. He gives us the sweet assurance that the child is held, and the watcher is held, in the same pierced hands.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, You who loved the little ones and gathered them in Your arms, look now upon this child whose body is uncomfortable and in pain. Speak a quiet word of healing and ease. And look upon the one who brought this request, steady their heart, lift their eyes, and let them feel Your own tenderness wrapping around them both. For You are our comfort in affliction, and we trust You. Amen.