I’m starting to come out of a rough patch, and here’s what I’ve been thinking.

Lord, you promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Lord, that is what your Scripture says, but I have seen many dark times when I have felt forsaken.

Yet whenever I have not sensed your presence in the past, you have always sent me a sign of your goodness, often a small, seemingly inconsequential kindness by a friend which, to them, was a feather, but to me a bar of gold.

Lord, by faith AND experience I believe you have always been with me in every one of the dark times.

Lord, I affirm that you have always led me out of the dark times.

Lord, I affirm that you have never left or forsaken me.

Lord, by faith I believe that you are with me right now.

And so, Lord, I come to be with you as you are always with me: your much loved son, friend, disciple, servant, vessel, and charge.

By the power of your Spirit, permit me to experience what by faith I hold to be true: you will never leave me or forsake me. In your loving name, Jesus. Amen.