He’s Not Far

Closer Then You Think

When pain and hardship shadow our steps,
and despair is all we feel in the middle of the story—
when our eyes can only see what’s right in front of us—
His presence follows still.

Your world may shake,
but His hand stays steady—
holding, upholding,
never letting you fall.

And the enemy trembles at the sight
of the One who stands beside us,
the One who fights for us.

Heaven may seem distant,
yet it’s closer than our breath.
The veil was torn, it was finished—
nothing separates,
nothing stands between us.

Even death gives way to life,
as our eyes open to glory,
to peace without end.. to a love we cant imagine.

So breathe deep and trust and know that you’re held; He hasn’t left you.

Sometimes the part of the story we can see feels overwhelming, but it’s only a tiny glimpse of what’s really happening. We don’t get to see the work God is doing behind the scenes, and often the weight of the moment keeps us from noticing Him standing right in the middle of it with us. God never promised an easy path, but He did promise that He would never leave or forsake us. We know this—we’ve heard it so many times—yet somehow we forget so quickly. Maybe it’s because pain shouts louder than peace. Maybe it’s because we’re human and afraid. But even in our forgetting, He remains faithful, steady, and close.

A couple of months ago, while I was down at the Gulf in Alabama, I was struggling to understand God’s purpose in the middle of so much pain. It felt like everyone I knew was being battered by something. That morning, as I stood crying in the angry surf, I heard God whispering to my heart: “You’re watching the waves. You’re focused on the destruction. You’re staring at the storm. But you’re not seeing the beauty happening beneath it.”

Right there on the shore, I pulled out my phone and started searching what actually happens during a hurricane or heavy storm in the Gulf. And what I found was exactly the reminder God was trying to give me.

Powerful storms, like hurricanes, act like a blender, churning up the stratified layers and causing nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean to rise to the surface. This process is known as upwelling.

The sudden availability of nutrients at the surface, which would otherwise be out of reach, During calm conditions, the sun warms the ocean’s surface, creating distinct layers of water with different densities (a process called stratification). The warmest, least dense water stays on top, while colder, deeper water—which is rich in nutrients from decomposing organic matter—remains at the bottom. 

I couldn’t help but notice how those waves felt so much like my own heart at times. When a storm hits my life and I’m tossed around in the turbulence, things begin to rise that have been dormant for so long—things buried beneath the surface. Prayers I haven’t prayed in years. Passions that grew stagnant while life was calm. Longings I forgot I had. All of it begins to stir again.

This upwelling is necessary. The stirring and churning of the things God planted in us—dreams, desires, faith, hope—often happens in seasons that feel anything but peaceful. It’s not always pretty, and it certainly isn’t easy, but the process matters. It is in the shaking and the stirring—that His presence meets us. The same God who steadies the waves is the One who steadies us. What feels overwhelming on the surface is never the whole story. Beneath it all, He is near, He is working, and He is holding us with a hand that never lets us fall. And even in the storm, even in the middle, heaven stands close.

Romans 8:38-39
[38] For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Deuteronomy 31:8
[8] It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Psalm 46:2-3
[2] Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, [3] though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

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