There’s a popular song right now that says:
“I’m only one call away I’ll be there to save the day. Superman’s got nothing on me. I’m only one call away.”*
I don’t actually know if it’s that popular. What I know is that my roommates keep singing it, so it keeps getting stuck in my head. It seems popular in this house.
It struck me one day this week as I was driving home and listening to that song: that I keep waiting for Superman to show up. Keep checking the sky for the flying hero. Keep waiting for him to swoop down and pull me out of what I can’t see past.
I’d been thinking earlier in the day about “fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). And I’d whispered that I couldn’t find Him. Had reminded Him how hard it is to fix our eyes on what we cannot see.
And maybe it’s because I’ve been looking for Superman’s red cape to stream through the sky. And all the while the steady hand of a faithful Father has been writing His name across my every day.
I’ve been waiting for rescue. He keeps showing me where to place my foot.
I’ve been begging for escape. He keeps teaching me the way to walk.
I’ve been wishing for answers. He keeps reminding me of His promises.
These days don’t make a lot of sense to me. I want them to hold purpose and meaning and some grand scope. And they don’t. But they hold dinner and friends and a whole lot of laughing. They hold honest conversations. They hold road trips and coffee and the world’s strangest dog. They hold a family that I not only love but also genuinely enjoy. They hold some absurdity, but they also hold people willing to laugh with me at the absurdity of it all. And those same people can handle it if a few tears (mine and theirs) fall too.
And in it all there is this God that I can’t see. Until I close my eyes.
I keep waiting for Superman to show up. And God keeps coming a good, steady, faithful Father.
To light the next step on an unfamiliar path.
To tilt my chin back up toward Him.
To sit beside me in a quiet place.
Superheroes are great for a moment of panic. But they don’t stick around long after the danger subsides. There are other dramatic rescues to attend. There are others in worse shape than you, and Superman will leave as quickly as he arrived.
Fathers are faithful right here in the middle. Right here where we aren’t sure which way to go. Right here where we don’t know quite how this ends. Right here where we aren’t sure we’re going to like the outcome.
Fathers don’t come and go with the crisis. They stick right there beside you.
I don’t need Superman after all.
I just need a God who wrapped Himself in skin, who boldly declares that His name is still Immanuel – God with us. (Matthew 1:23)
May you know Him this day. May you know His presence and His nearness and His withness. May you stop searching the sky for Superman and see the very faithful face of a Savior right there in your midst.
Superman’s got nothing on Him.
