Ruth Graham: God Is Always There

My mother sent me a gift. And it was important to me at that time because I was going through a very difficult time with one of my children. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. I was uncertain. I was scared. I was perplexed. I was anxious. 

And the postman rang my doorbell, and a package came from mother. I knew it was from mother because of her back slanted handwriting. It was very distinct. And it wasn’t near my birthday, and it wasn’t the size of a book, and it wasn’t Christmas time. But as I opened it, I realized it was a plaque that mother had hung over her desk for years. I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t there. And she sent it to me. 

And the plaque read, “Fear not tomorrow. God is already there.” And that was a truth that I needed to be reminded of, that God was there. And then as I began to think, you know, OK. God is there. Is he really there? Is he? What is he like? Is he going to help me? What does it mean? What are the repercussions for the fact that God is there? And so that’s when I began to dig into the scripture, to find out how he encountered people in the scriptures.