Fear not, for I am with you.

Isaiah 41:10a

Isaiah 41 was written to the Israelites while they were in exile in Babylon. For 70 years, they experienced hardship, fears, and abandonment. I’ve never been in Babylon, but I have endured a different version of what the Israelites felt. When my husband died, I was thrust into my own exile — bills to pay with much less money, decisions that needed to be made, and loneliness. I questioned the presence of God in all of this.

Philippians 4:13 reminded me that “I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me.” Actually, I really wasn’t alone in this strengthening journey. God sent family and friends who propped me up when I felt as if I couldn’t go on. And how did they do this? They prayed with me, they sat with me in church, and they fed me. As a result, I did feel God’s presence as He strengthened me and brought me out of the exile of loneliness into the arms of the body of believers.

Jan Bathke
Eau Claire, WI

Dear God, thank You for fortifying my faith through my brothers and sisters in the Lord. Amen.

Reflect: The next time you are at the senior center, reach out to someone who needs to feel God’s presence.

Read: Psalm 139:8-10 and Jeremiah 33:3