No Video

When I was young, my mother's sister and her family lived overseas for several years. From time to time, we'd send them videotapes of ourselves--a letter is nice, but you can see and hear a person on a video.

One morning, my mother spotted a series of hot air balloons floating above our house. She got out the videocamera and began recording the balloon race. I watched the race too, and my mother and I commented about the different colors and designs of the various balloons, the tape all the while recording our comments. But only our comments. The tape was just video of the balloons and audio of our voices.

I'm not sure why, but my mom sent this videotape to her sister and her family. Later, they joked about how frustrating it was to hear our voices but not see us. They knew we were there because they could hear our voices. But they longed to see our faces.

For some reason, I thought about this the other day, this memory from my childhood. And it made me think about how frustrating it can be when God seems so far away. He seems a world away. We can see His creations, and sometimes we can even hear His voice. We know He's there. But we can't see Him. But someday we will. And it is also a comfort to remember Matthew 28:20: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Jesus is with us. Always. And He always will be. Remember this. Remind yourself constantly. We've got a big brother who is always there to guide us, cheer us, protect us, and love us.