One of my favorite hymns is “In the Garden”. When I hear the chorus which says “He walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own,” I feel such comfort and peace.

But, sometimes during our trials and tribulations, it is hard to believe God is with us and that we are his own. During such times, it is not always easy to feel God’s presence nor hear his voice.

Yet, he is always there walking with us and helping us bare our loads. He is always talking to us, giving us comfort to soothe our souls and guidance to find our way. 

The problem is we are not always in the mindset to look for him beside us and hear his voice whispering to us.  Our loads get so heavy we lose focus of The Great I Am. 

But, no matter how hard it gets, we must keep looking and listening because he will keep walking and talking and it is only with his help and guidance that we will make the hard journey to life’s glorious end.

If you are going through a difficult time and find it hard to feel God’s presence, read the following scriptures and take them to heart. They each show that no matter what, God is by our side guiding and protecting us.

Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;

 Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.  Psalm 23:4 (KJV)

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

 If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning,

 And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there Your hand shall lead me,

 And Your right hand shall hold me.”  Psalm: 139:7–10 (NKJV)

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?⁶As it is written:

 “For Your sake we are killed all day long;

   We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:35 -39 (NKJV)

 

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Matthew 6:27 (NLT)

Have you ever faced a difficult circumstance or tragedy and thought—If only I had known this was going to happen? In that moment or the days and weeks following, you may have felt that if you had known what was going to happen, you would have been better prepared to handle it.

I remember my father saying this a few months after he had to have his leg amputated due to diabetes. As someone who was used to being in control, I believe he felt that if he had known ahead of time, he would have been better physically, emotionally, and definitely financially able to deal with life as an amputee. At the time I remember agreeing that yes it would have been nice to know ahead of time and be better prepared.

But, I later began to think about how it would be to have known ahead of time that something bad was going to happen. Would we really take that knowledge and use the days before it happened to prepare ourselves for it?

 Actually, in most cases, I believe if we knew something bad was going to happen we would spend the majority of the time worrying ourselves to death about it.

I can only imagine what the days between Jan. 2, 1994 & Aug. 11, 1994, would have felt like if God had told me on Jan. 1, 1994 that I was going to have my accident.  I may have tried to learn more about quadriplegia, but ultimately every day would have been filled with increasing dread and anxiety. 

It is understandable that as we go through a difficult circumstance, we wish we had the possible control beforehand knowledge may have given. It is scary having to deal with changes and not knowing what will happen next.

But, instead of futilely wishing we had only known, we can trust in the One who knows.

God is all, sees all, and knows all. Rather rain or shine, in darkness or day, over mountains or in valleys he is beside us guiding our path, holding our hand so we will never fall. His power is all-encompassing and if we rest in his arms we will be safe and secure.

This life may not always be easy but when resting in his arms it can be full of peace and joy.  There is no place better than the shelter of his grace.

 

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:2–3a (NLT)

Not again.

I do not know how much more of this I can take.

I do not know what to do.

These thoughts and others raced through my head as I lay there once again faced with changing circumstances. I thought things were progressing relatively okay, then wham another issue to deal with.

You would think after 20 years of living with a disability (quadriplegic), I would be used to all the changes, challenges, and obstacles. But, all the physical challenges coupled with having to arrange care, in addition to having to deal with issues such as financial struggles, loss of loved ones, and relational conflicts has often been overwhelming.

Let’s face it, life is not always easy, whether you have a disability or not. Difficult things happen. You have to deal with tough circumstances that can leave you feeling scared, alone, and without hope. You cannot see your way through and you feel overcome by what is happening. Worry and fear set in, and you desperately seek a way out.

I felt this way once again that day lying in my bed, facing yet another difficult situation.

Yet, one thing was different this time. God had been showing me that by continuously sinking into that worry and fear, giving in to despair, and frantically searching for a way I could change my circumstances, I sinned. I had not been living in full trust of him, trusting him to see me through all my difficulties.

So, that day I quickly stopped my racing thoughts of despair and turned my thoughts to God. When I did, today’s key verse, which I had studied a few weeks before, immediately came to mind.

In this passage, God speaks to the Israelites through the prophet Isaiah. He lets them know their journey back to the promise land after captivity would not be easy. He told them they would go through difficult situations.  But, he promised to be with them until the end. He promised he would not let them be destroyed.

God speaks the same thing to each of us today.

In life, many times will come when the figurative rivers of difficulty and fire of oppression surround you and threaten to consume you. God does not say “if” they come, but “when” they come. Blessedly, he promises that he will be there to guide you through the flood waters and fires of life. If you trust in him, reach out for his guiding hand, he will lead you to the other side, safe and secure. You will have to go through them, but you will not be overcome by them.