Life is hard – and often unpredictable. While there are beautiful days where we are enjoying all God’s blessings, there are plenty of hard days where we are tempted to wonder where He went. And yet, when we know Him and are seeking to make Him the center of our lives, even the hardest and darkest times are different because of His presence. In fact, sometimes we see Him and know His presence more clearly in the hard times than we do when life is easy and we feel like we can do it on our own.

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We live in a self-sufficient, self-reliant culture. We want to be strong and independent. We want to prove that we are capable; we don’t need help. But at our core, God didn’t design us this way. After creating Adam and placing him in the Garden of Eden, God deemed that wasn’t enough. Adam needed someone suited for him – to help him and be with him in the garden. So, God made a woman and blessed the two of them (Gen. 2). Again and again in Scripture, there are examples of people working together, ministering together, and seeking God together.  

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But our friends and family are never meant to be a substitute for God. He created us; He knows us; He loves us more completely than any human relationship. It is too vast for us to fully comprehend. In the moments when our hearts break, He knows, and He is with us.

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To those around us we may need to explain and answer and plan and prepare – but God knows. While He wants us to pour our hearts out to Him in prayer, there are times when there are simply no words, and still, He knows. In Romans, Paul writes that “the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” (Rom 8:26 NLT) I don’t know about you, but I find it incredibly comforting that when I don’t have the words to pray, the Spirit has them for me and is praying on my behalf. What a generous God!

So, know that when you are broken, God is near. When you are crushed, God desires to restore. He doesn’t run away from our brokenness, but He embraces us in it. If you need some examples from Scripture, read the way that Jesus interacted with Mary and Martha after Lazarus died (Lk. 11:17-43) or His encounter with the Samaritan woman (Jn. 4) or His care for the woman who washed his feet with her tears (Lk. 7:36-50). God loves, forgives, restores, and is with us.

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Wherever you find yourself today – whether you are in a season of rejoicing or a season of brokenness – God is near! Be comforted in knowing that He is with you.  

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Deuteronomy 31:8 is a prayer of blessing over you today – “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”