Welcome back to Unseen. It has been a difficult couple of weeks but God is faithful. Happy All Saints Day. Take a minute to honor and remember the faithful ones who have passed on. Between grief and struggles we often feel alone. Read on to see what God showed me about his presence.




The Lord is Near


You drew near when I called on You; You said, "Do not fear!" Lamentations 3:57




Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s  rite of Passage?
His father takes  him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves  him alone.
He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and  not remove the blindfold until the rays of the  morning sun shine through it.    He cannot  cry out for help to anyone.
Once he survives the night, he is a man.
He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.
The boy is  naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of  noises. Wild  beasts must surely be all around  him. Maybe even some human might do him harm.  The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his  stump,  but he sat stoically,  never removing the blindfold. It would be the  only  way he could become a  man!   Finally, after a horrific night the sun  appeared and he removed his blindfold.
It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump
next  to him.
He had been at watch the entire night,
protecting  his son from harm. We, too, are  never alone.
Even when we don’t know it, God  is watching over us,
Sitting on the stump beside us.
When trouble  comes, all we have to do is
reach  out to Him.
The God of the universe chooses to be near to  us. Even the name Emmanuel, which the prophet gave to Jesus means God With Us. We read in Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Philippians 4 is such a familiar passage to many of us that we over look something important. It reads
 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Did you see it? Tucked in the middle of the instructions of what to do and how to pray is the reason that we are able to. THE LORD IS NEAR. Take courage in this fact. I pray that God will give us the eyes and ears to sense his presence and take comfort from it.