Just Around the Corner
Dr. Rikki Permenter, Ph.D., Th. M.
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
My husband and I have a beautiful, spunky, and very social 7-month-old daughter. She loves nothing more than to hang out with us all day. Normally her stuffed tiger or her pet weenie dog is perfect company and keep her completely entertained. She doesn’t necessarily want my husband or I to hold her all day - she just wants to know we’re there. When she is playing in her baby gym while were in the front of the house we have it set up where we can always see her. The thing is, she is short and everything else is tall. She can’t always see us. Occasionally, we will be doing something and she will realize that she can’t see us and will think we have left her all alone. She will let out a loud wail almost demanding we save her from some peril that we know doesn’t exist. All we have to do is peak our head from around the corner, or over a sofa, or from behind the island and her face will break out in the biggest grin. She knows she is safe because we are right there, and have been right there all along. She just couldn’t see us.
Sometimes I’m just like my daughter. I get caught up in life with the adult equivalent of a stuffed tiger, a pet weenie dog, or a play gym and look up and think I’m all alone. I can’t see God. I can’t see what He is doing, where He went, and I don’t know when He is coming back. I freak out and I cry out to God. I ask him where He has been, why He left me all alone, and wonder if I did something to warrant the abandonment. That the point when He sticks His head out from whatever is in my way and I see He has been right there all along. He could see me the whole time - it was just from my vantage point that I couldn’t see Him. The peril I was facing seems to vanish when I focus on Him.
Think about your relationship with God. Do you feel that he is far off? Do you think He has left you alone to fend for yourself? Just call out to Him and He will show you that He has been right there all along — you just couldn’t see Him from where you were sitting.
his article can be found in print in the monthly Baptist Association of Southeast Louisiana newsletter.
