He was there all the time

 Joshua 1:5 “..as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you”

^{Joel 2:25-26 25}And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten…..And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord, your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you. And My people shall never be put to shame.

Last month while in my usual mad dash to get dressed and run out the house, I went into a panic when I went to my jewelry box and couldn’t find my Aggie class ring “Hmm, maybe it’s on my bathroom sink?” I thought. Nope. Purse pocket? Not there. Nightstand?  Nada. “Argh!!!!” Frustration began to overwhelm me as I started rifling through my jewelry thinking it may be hidden underneath some earrings and necklaces. As I explained to my close friend on the phone what was going on (yep, I was multitasking, thank God for bluetooths!) she told me to calm down, leave the house and just look for it later. Done. To understand why this ring meant so much to me you would have to know just how treasured a tradition receiving your Aggie ring was at Texas A&M University. Everything from ordering to picking up the ring was a big event and meant even more to me because less than a year before I went through the devastating loss of my parents and wasn’t even quite sure if I would finish out college. Members of my family pitched in and helped me pay for the ring (something they knew my mom would have done) and the day I picked up the ring was a moment I’ll never forget!

I spent the next three weeks tracing my steps back, emptying all my purses and looking in every possible nook and cranny in my condo. I still couldn’t find the ring. I sat on my bed and quietly whispered “I give up”, the ring was lost and I would never see it again. As I thought about what the ring meant to me, the road that led me to Texas A&M, the memories shared with classmates and the journey I’ve been on since those days, tears started to roll down my face. I wiped them away, accepted what was now lost and decided to move on. Five days later I’m paying for my smoothie at my neighborhood juice shop and as I reached in my wallet to get the change needed, I saw deep in the corner right amongst the pennies, dimes and nickels….my ring!!!!!!!! YAY!!! Sweet relief! As I sat there waiting on my smoothie, I pondered “how could I have missed it??” I know for a fact I’d dug change out the wallet recently, so how did I overlook it? And furthermore why on earth was it in my wallet??  It was then I heard my mother’s voice (always a treat when I get those moments) singing that old school gospel song “He was there all the time”. Whew! Since I was in a public place I couldn’t catch the “holy ghost” like I really wanted..so I waited til I got in the car! Lol :)

That got me to thinking, how often in the midst of our storms, difficult circumstances and overwhelming schedules do we overlook God? No matter how hard life can get or how impossible a situation looks, God is always there. He promises us in this passage to never leave nor forsake us. What is amazing to me is that I took that wallet with me every day and my ring was in there the whole time. I thought it was lost because I was careless with my placement of the ring and forgot to put it in its proper place. I don’t want to ever get to careless with my relationship with God as I did my ring. We have to make sure he is always in his proper place, which is first in our life and at the center of every thought, action and decision we make.  Don’t worry over your difficult circumstances, a situation that looks too hard to turn around, an opportunity you feel you’ve missed or a relationship that has been broken. God is there and still able to restore what you’ve “thought” was lost.