The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. (Ps. 145:18)
“Maddy!” I screamed louder than I ever screamed before. We were at a park among friends, and my five-year-old daughter had gone missing. I immediately went jogging into the neighborhood while one of my best friends, Jonathan, did the same in the opposite direction. There was a southwest Kansas wind howling and whipping by, and I wondered how far my voice would carry. “Maddy!” There was no reply. My heart raced like it had never raced before, and my stomach twisted in tight knots. Why was my little girl not answering me? Where was she?
There are times in life when we call out to God and feel like we don’t hear him reply or that he isn’t near. Yet the Bible assures us that God is near to anyone who calls him, and that he watches over those who love him (vv. 17; 20). Too often our circumstances entangle us in so much worry and with so much noise that we fail to hear him or sense his presence. God is never too far away to hear when we call out to him.
In the end, my little Maddy and her friend were hiding in some bushes that were less than fifteen feet from the covered shelter where we hosted our gathering. I held her close and made her promise never to scare me like that again.
Trust that God is never too far away to hear our calls.
Chris McFadden is a doctoral student at Wesley Seminary and an ordained minister, serving Lakin Wesleyan Church in Kansas. He is married to Suzanne and has two beautiful daughters.
© 2021 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
