It was a tough stretch for our two-year-old grandson. Mommy was expecting his soon-to-arrive baby brother, and she was sick with a respiratory infection. Normally, Mommy and Daddy were both in the room where my grandson slept. But for comfort and health reasons, Mommy had to sleep in another room for a few nights. My grandson never said anything about his mother not being there during the night, but it obviously affected him. He slept in the big bed with Daddy, but he didn't sleep much. Neither did his father of course. Every few minutes, he'd snuggle up against Daddy and just say two words until his father responded, "Daddy, hold." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hug That Gets You Through The Night." There's not one of us who doesn't need that kind of hug sometimes, like my grandson missing his Mommy. We go through seasons when our security is shaken, we feel alone, and confused, and maybe uncertain about the future. That's when our heart wants to say "Daddy, hold" and know there will always be someone there to do just that. Actually, we were created to have that kind of intimate love relationship with God himself. His is the hug that gets you through the night. He's supposed to be our rock, our stability, our fixed point, our one like "unloseable." But sadly, in God's own words in the Bible, "each of us has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). So our sins have, again in God's words, "separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). Now, we may have strong beliefs, and we might be very religious. But we can still tell that the Heavenly Father we need to hold us is kind of far away beyond our reach. But that's why Jesus came! That's why Good Friday. Something mind-blowing happened on that cross - something almost inconceivable, but the only thing that could give us a chance at belonging to the One who created us. It's described in our word for today from the Word of God in Mark 15:33-34. Jesus is nailed to a Roman cross. And though it is very difficult to speak; water filling a crucified man's lungs, Jesus speaks several times before He dies. There are four accounts of Jesus' death; one in each of the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament. But only one thing Jesus said on the cross is reported in more than one of those accounts, and this is it: "At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" Well, the answer is basically this: because God loves you more than you could ever imagine. To put it simply, for God to hold you, He had to let go of His Son. Why? Because His Son was carrying all the guilt and all the hell of all the sinning you've ever done. And a holy God turned His back on His one and only Son because His Son was carrying your sin. God turned His back on His Son so He would never have to turn His back on you! And now, God's asking you to give yourself to the One who died so you don't have to. He's ready to hold you today and every day of your life, and then hold you forever. But first the sins of your life have to be erased. And that can only happen by you telling Jesus you are putting all your trust in Him to tear down the wall between you and God. And He will. Today, in your heart, would you stand at the foot of that cross and look at Jesus dying for what you've done, and give yourself to the One who loves you most? Don't you want to begin your relationship with Him? Tell Him that right now, and go to our website ANewStory.com. It's all there to help you be sure you belong to Him. See, God is the Daddy that we've always wanted to have hold us. And His is the hug that will get you through every night. He's reaching for you. Reach for Him.