…and, lo, I am with you always. Matthew 28:20 (KJV)
My nephew Hunter is three years old. His mom plays a Kari Jobe worship album a lot, and he’s picked up on some of the songs. His favorite is called “I Am Not Alone.” It says a lot of other nice things, but the chorus repeats the truth of the above verse. Hunter likes to tell me to watch his show, which means he’s going to stand in the middle of the room, use his sister’s hot-pink Trolls microphone, and sing at the top of his lungs: “I am not awone! I am not awone! You will go for me! You will never weave me!” And then I clap. And then he does it again. And I clap again. We’ve been engaged in this scenario on a daily basis for the past week.
Last night, he was playing in my yard when it came time for the show. I sat on my porch steps, and he stood out on a stage of grass. It was twilight, and the first stars shone in the sky like lights in the dome of a great cathedral. Hunter seemed tinier than ever as he began, “I am not awone!” His big brown eyes melted my heart.
Hunter was born premature—he weighed four pounds and spent a month in the NICU. We couldn’t stay with him there, but he was not alone. Jesus went before him. Jesus never left him. He’ll go to school in a few years, and then he’ll become a teenager. He’ll go to college, get married, and have a family. One day, he’ll be forty-six like me. And then he’ll be an old man. And he will never, ever be alone.
Faith Step: Draw a timeline of the significant moments of your life. Thank Jesus for never leaving you. And as you imagine what the future might hold, thank Jesus that He is already there.
