You have a great many things upon your heart just now, the journey, the examination, the son you are taking with you, and the dear boy you are leaving behind. It is no small thing for a mother’s heart to be divided in this way, one piece of it in a railway carriage and another piece in a house with the grandparents. But I want you to remember that the Lord who numbers the hairs of your head has no trouble counting the members of your family. His care is not so limited that He can only be in one place at a time. The Shepherd who gathers the lambs in His arms can hold your younger son on a train and your elder son at his cricket coaching with the same unstrained tenderness.
You are anxious about the seats on the train. I understand that entirely. It is a small matter in the grand scheme of things, and yet it is no small matter at all when you are the one standing in the aisle with a child clinging to your skirt. But our God is famous for making a way where there is no way, for opening a table in the wilderness when there is nothing but sand. He who divided a channel for the overflowing water can certainly find you a place to sit. I would not be surprised if you were to write to me afterwards and say that the carriage was strangely empty, or that a stranger moved along at just the right moment. That is His way. He loves to do little kindnesses for His children, love-tokens that seem small to others but are immense to the heart that receives them. He knows what a weary body feels like after a long day, and He is not indifferent to it.
And the examination, you are fretting about whether you will perform well. Let me speak plainly to you now. You are not going into that room alone. The Lord Jesus Christ, who calmed the raging sea with a word, is able to calm the storm of a troubled mind. When your thoughts feel scattered and your memory seems a sieve, He can step into the vessel of your soul and say, “Peace, be still.” Your preparation matters, and I am sure you have done what you could, but your trust must not rest finally on your own readiness. Rest it on the One who gives wisdom liberally without finding fault. If He wants you to have this position, no examiner will be able to keep you from it. And if He does not want you to have it, it is only because something better waits for you in another place. Even those words spoken beyond your own knowledge, as Job found, can be ordered by God.
I know a minister who on a dark night was walking home with a heavy heart and he took his little girl by the hand. She could see nothing, but she said, “Father, you know the way.” And that is the whole of it, isn’t it? You are walking a path you cannot see, but your Father knows the way. The train line, the examination hall, the house where your eldest boy sleeps tonight, He knows every inch of it. Night is the season when fears multiply, but even night has its songs. You may not hear the music yet, but the promise is sure: “God gives songs in the night.” Listen for it. Perhaps it will come as a quiet confidence stealing over you, a peace that passes understanding.
Let me speak a word about your elder son. You are leaving him, and a mother’s mind can paint a thousand frightful pictures in the space of a minute. But what did the Lord Jesus say to Peter? “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” Do you think He prays less for your son? The boy is in hands that cannot drop him. You have done a right and necessary thing, and you may cast this care upon the Lord, for He cares for you, and for him. His angels are not on holiday because you have gone to another city. The hedge of protection is not taken down because you are not there to see it.
Now, I want you to step into this business with a quiet heart. You are not trusting in a God who may be kind, or who might possibly help if He is in the right mood. No, blessed be His name, you are trusting in the God who gave His Son to bleed and die for you. Having given you Christ, will He not freely give you all these smaller things? He has already made the greater sacrifice; the lesser mercies will surely follow. The love-letter of the Gospel came to you in a black-edged envelope, with news of a death that brought you life. And the same handwriting that wrote your pardon will guide your steps.
Approach the journey, the exam, the parting, and the reunion with this confidence: He is faithful who promised. Not a hair of your head shall perish. In patience you will possess your soul.
Father, into Your hands we commit this dear one and all that concerns her. Guard the boy at home; hold him as safely as though Your own nail-scarred hand were upon his shoulder. Ride with this family in their carriage; be their unseen companion, their peace and their shield. Calm the anxious heart as the exam paper lies before her; let the mind be clear, the memory quick, and the spirit steady. And bring them all back together again, full of gratitude, with joyful tales of Your goodness. We ask it in the name of Jesus, our Lord and our unfailing friend. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
