My 5 year old granddaughter has a large collection of stuffed animals. She calls them the Everybodies. Every night she chooses which everybody will be sleeping with her in bed. She can’t have them all, otherwise there would be no room for her! The innocence of a child, finding security in being surrounded by her toys and the way she personalises them, is a beautiful thing.
I heard a story once about a little boy who was afraid of the dark and wanted his mother to stay in his room with him. The boy’s mother said “it’s ok, we will pray and Jesus will be here with you.” To which the boy replied… “Jesus is good, but I want someone with skin on.”
This is a cute story and we have all been guilty of wanting someone with “skin on” to be with us when we are afraid or uncertain… I have two observations about this…
Jesus is our ‘everybody’. Whether we can see Him or not, we can be assured that He is always there with us. Matthew 28:20: And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” When Jesus ascended into Heaven He told His disciples that they would not be left alone, John 16:7: Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Jesus wants us to rely on Him as our everybody, to bring us peace, comfort, guidance and assurance… It has been in some of my darkest moments that I have felt most at peace knowing that I am not alone and that Jesus is forever interceding for me (Romans 8:34) and there is not a time in my life that I can look back on and not see the hand of God either protecting me or guiding me.
Although Jesus is our everybody… we all still need “someone with skin on”. We were not created to do this life alone. God declared in Genesis that it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18) and there are many examples of friendships and relationships in the Bible. I know I would be lost without my family and my friends, and even some of you who are reading this have been the inspiration and encouragement I needed to step out and do what I believe God has called me to do. A good friend is one who will challenge and inspire you, and who will tell you the truth… even when you don’t want to hear it!
It is a true blessing to be someone with skin on in a person’s life. To walk with them, and carry them if need be. May we all be people who rely on Jesus to be our everybody and our everything, but may we also be genuine people with skin on to support each other in our times of need.
