Ever Present

Has anyone ever told you "I'm always here for you"? How often is that statement true? When a friend or family member is going through a difficult time, we have the best of intentions in truly wanting to be there for that person. Your heart tells you that there is nothing more important than being there during an extreme time of need. Your brain tells your mouth to utter those five words and your heart tells you that you right to do so.

As a little girl, I loved the movie "ET", mainly because it had my favorite candy in it: Reeses Pieces. It was a touching story of a little boy befriending an alien who was left behind on earth. The alien and the little boy become so close that the boy begins to feel the same illness that befalls ET. One of the cool things about ET was the way he talked. He introduced phrases like "ET, phone home" and "Ouch" into the world that soon everyone was mocking him.

The phrase I remember the most was ET saying, "I'll be right here." It was ET's way of telling Elliot that he would never really leave him, even though Elliot wouldn't be able to see ET. Do I believe in aliens? No. Do I believe that those four simple words hold power? Yes.

God tells His children the same thing. I'll be right here. No matter how strong our intentions are, life often takes over and makes us "unavailable" when our friends need us the most. Not that we do it on purpose, but it does happen. It's happened to me a lot.

I have five nieces and I adore each and everyone of them. I have a different relationship with each little girl. My sister's youngest daughter attached herself to me from birth. She's almost three now and melts my heart with a smile and an "I love you". She has so much personality and she is very curious. So curious that she drives her mother crazy at times and then turn right around and be the angel you imagine children to be.

My sister's husband took a new job in Tennessee and for the past three weeks, I've been getting accustomed to the fact that they don't live in Georgia anymore. I can't drive twenty minutes down the road and see four of my nieces and my sister anytime I want to. Before they left, I taught my youngest niece to say some of the things that ET said. She mastered "ouch" and "phone home", but the one that always gets me is "I'll be right here." I wanted her to remember that even if she couldn't see me, that I was still there.

As all my nieces grow older, regardless of where they live, I pray that they all know that while I have the best of intentions and will do my best to be there if ever any of them need me; God is always there. He never leaves us. Even if we can't see Him, He is still there.

Jeremiah 23:23-24 talks about the Ever-Present God. That means "always there." He is the one constant that anyone can count on in life. It's not family or a close friend or a spouse, it's God. HE can, and will, sustain us. HE is all that we ever need. HE is the only one who can truly say "I'll be right here."