Hearing God's HeartSample

Lo, I am with you always


Once, in Cameroon, I was hopelessly lost in a plantation, looking for a missionary’s house. Identical roads criss-crossed the area and the tall palm trees blocked the view in all directions. At last a local man came along, wheeling his bicycle. He was very eager to explain the way. Waving his arms, he pointed in the right direction, and with loud repetitions emphasised that you go “so” (pointing right) and then “so” (pointing left) and then “far, far, far inside the plantation” (many hand wavings). I repeated his complicated explanations with the same loud repetitions and hand pointing, asking him if this was correct. With pride, he nodded, smiling, and breathed a loud, “Yes sir!”

Sometimes preachers are similarly eager to explain the way to go deeper with God, perhaps shouting to try and make it penetrate our dull brains. However, we either forget the detail, or we don’t fully understand in the first place. But Christ does not merely explain; He gets in the car with us, and shows us the way.

This is the marvel of this verse - that Christ is not just our teacher; He is our guide and our light on the way. We will never get lost, because He will always be with us to show us the way forward. We may not know what lies a year, a month, a day or even an hour in the future. But it does not matter, for He will always be there, and so we can rest in that sure knowledge.