"When Is Always?"

"... lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:20 

Jesus said He would always be with us. The word always means: each, every, any, all, the whole, all things, everything. Surely, He didn't really mean always- always encompasses a lot. It includes every place we are and each situation we go through. Would He be with us always when "always" includes times of pain, heartache and lack? Is He going to stay with us each time we hurt, each time we are suffering or each time we face adversity? Will He still remain there when we are in a pit of despair, the valley of the shadow of death, times of struggle, or fiery furnace trials? Is He with us in the times when others walk out on us? When we are betrayed by those closest to us? When grief overwhelms us? When sickness consumes our bodies? When poverty becomes our companion? 

 

Or does "always" just mean in the good times, prosperous times and happy times? Is He more like a "fair-weather friend"? Will His "always" include only the times of peace we enjoy? Or the times when we have the world "by the tail"? The promise He has made to always be with us includes it all. It includes everywhere and anything you find yourself going through-- good or bad. 

 

The word always also means: individually. While He is a God who loves "all the world"- no exclusions- He is a God who loves and cares for each and every individual. Jesus told us that He sees when just one sparrow falls to the ground and went on to say that we are of much more value-- individually, each of us-- than the sparrows. He cares about you so much so that He knows the exact number of hairs on your head. Do you? Are you that "well acquainted" with your own self? Amazingly, He cares about even one single hair on our head. 

 

Don't let the enemy make you think that the Lord is not with you. Don't let Him convince you that He has left you. Don't believe the lie that the Lord cares about everyone else but not you. Know that He is with you-- always, everywhere, each time, in all places wherever those places are. 

 

Have a great day. The Lord is with you always... and always means always.

 

For further reading:

Luke 12:6,7

Matthew 10:29,30