
Your Very Present Help for Every Need
These days, it feels like we’re always connected… but not really present.
Our phones are with us everywhere. At the dinner table. Beside our bed. And for some, even in the washroom.
Without realizing it, we’ve become so used to escaping into other people’s lives. Scrolling through social media, chasing updates, binging on another drama series.
If we’re not careful, we end up traveling everywhere else and engaging with everything else, all from that tiny screen, except where it really matters—the present.
Present with the people who matter. Present with the blessings right in front of us.
And the most sobering part? When we’re not present, we miss the Lord.
Because it’s only in the present that we can encounter His presence.
Now, maybe for you, it’s not your phone robbing you of being more present. But wouldn’t you agree that we so often get caught up in the regrets of the past… or the fears and worries of our tomorrow?
“If only I had chosen that path...”
“If only I hadn’t taken up that opportunity…”
“If only I had known this would happen…”
“What if there is a recession…”
“What if I develop that condition…”
“What if my children can’t keep up…”
Living anywhere but today, in the now.
There’s a story in John 11 that shows this so clearly. When Lazarus had died, and Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Martha ran out to meet Him. Her first words?
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21).
Do you see it? She pushed Jesus into the past, saying, “If You had been here…”
Then, she swung to the other extreme and pushed Him into the future, saying, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:24).
But Jesus responded to her so gently and powerfully, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).
Not I was. Not I will be. I AM.
She was face-to-face with the very answer she needed… the miracle she was longing for. The Lord Himself was standing right in front of her, not promising her a miracle someday but offering it in that very moment, in the now.
And yet, she missed it.
Let me ask you this:
Have you been living in the past, replaying regrets and wondering where the Lord was? Or have you been caught up in the future, worried about what might go wrong?
Or maybe you’ve just been so distracted. Your phone’s always in your hand. You’re following someone else’s story while missing your own.
I pray you don’t miss the very answer that’s right in front of you—the Lord’s presence with you, right where you are.
And do you know what else is in the present? His help in times of trouble!
One of the most comforting promises we can hold onto is found in Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Not a someday help. Not a maybe help. But a very present help.
If you’re facing something today… or if you’re feeling overwhelmed even in this very moment… the Lord is calling you back to Him now to be in this moment, present with Him.
He is the great I AM. Hear Him whisper to you:
“I am your healing.”
“I am your wisdom.”
“I am your peace.”
“I am your supply.”
“I am your joy.”
“I am your more-than-enough.”
And as you begin to live in the moment with Jesus, something beautiful happens.
You begin to slow down. You start to notice and cherish the people around you again—your children, your spouse, your friends.
And most importantly… you become aware of Him.
His peace.
His presence.
His promptings.
His leading.
His love.
So today, come back to the present, because that’s where He is.
And where He is, is where true rest, strength, and grace begin.