God Is With Usనమూనా

He’s Present

You are close beside me. -Psalm 23:4

In his final year of life, my father suffered from hallucinations—he called them “vivid dreams”—a symptom of Parkinson’s disease. He lived in a confusing twilight of drowsy wakefulness and dream sleep.

Once in the middle of the night, he called me. He said he was in a strange place that seemed real to him. It was a vivid dream, yet he was awake.

In a crackly voice, he asked, “Ken, are you real?”

It was heartbreaking, but I managed to reply, “Yes, Dad, I’m here with you now. For real.”

Often, we find ourselves in a strange place, wondering if God is real, desperately needing His presence. In such times we turn to the comfort of Psalm 23 and its message:

God is with us. For real.

He walks with us through “green meadows” and “peaceful streams” (v. 2) and through our “darkest valley” (v. 4). It’s an extraordinary picture of the intimate presence of God, culminating in the whispered promise, “You are close beside me” (v. 4). This promise finds its fulfillment in Jesus, who came to live among us.

At the end, my dad was in an unconscious dream state in hospice. But when I started singing a hymn he loved, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” Dad slowly turned in his bed, looked up to heaven, and started singing with me: “I sing because I’m happy . . . He watches over me.”

I couldn’t break through Dad’s mental fog. But God could. God was present with my father. And He’s present with you. Right now. In this moment. For real.

Kenneth Petersen

When do you most feel the presence of God? When do you feel He isn’t real in your life?

Dear God, I seek Your comfort. Please help me feel Your presence in my life.