Wednesday Devotional 2026: He Was There All Along

I was so focused on seeing the President that I missed what had been there all along.

Night Four: He was there all the time

God’s silence is not the same as God’s absence.

Several years ago, I was in Washington, D.C., for some meetings. One afternoon, I hopped on the Metro and went sightseeing downtown. I visited the Air and Space Museum, the Capitol, the monuments, and finally made my way over to the White House.

I stood by the fence in front of the South Lawn and took a few photos.

Suddenly, Secret Service agents began telling everyone to leave. They wouldn’t say why. I knew something big must be happening, so I made my way out onto the Ellipse, where I could still see the South Lawn. I waited and watched.

A few moments later, I heard the throb of helicopters. People in the crowd began saying that President Obama was returning to the White House. Then three identical helicopters passed overhead. Two turned away, and Marine One slowly hovered down and landed on the South Lawn.

I was so excited. I was going to see the President of the United States.

I pulled out my camera and began snapping pictures. But then a disappointing reality hit me: the door to Marine One was on the opposite side of the helicopter. I waited and watched, taking pictures the whole time, but the President never emerged where I could see him.

I was so close — but still so far away.

That night, back in my hotel room, I pored over my photos from the day, hoping I might discover that I had captured a picture of the President after all. But as I zoomed in for a closer look, I saw something in the photo that I had completely missed earlier.

I had been so focused on Marine One that I had failed to look up at the Roosevelt Balcony. There, standing by the railing and watching Marine One land, were Michelle Obama, her daughter Sasha, and their family dog.

They had been there all along.

I just never saw them.

The same thing happens to all of us sometimes.

One Friday night, a little girl came to me with a burning question.

“How can I know that God is real?” she asked. “When my life gets hard, I pray and pray, but He never answers. Sometimes I’m not even sure He’s there.”

That is a real question. Maybe you have asked it too.

Even people in the Bible asked questions like that. The people of Israel waited for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai for 40 days and finally built the golden calf, assuming that God had abandoned them. In Psalm 13, David cried out, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?” And even Jesus, while suffering on the cross, cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

So if you have ever felt like God was silent, you are not the first person to feel that way.

But here is what I have learned: God’s silence should never be confused with God’s absence.

Sometimes, when we are hurting, afraid, disappointed, or confused, we are so focused on the thing we wish God would do that we fail to see the ways He is already present. We are looking in one direction, but God has been standing with us all along.

Maybe He was there in the friend who listened.
Maybe He was there in the strength you had to make it through one more day.
Maybe He was there in the adult who cared, the song that encouraged you, the prayer you thought nobody heard, or the quiet reminder that you were not alone.

Three times in the Bible, God gives His people this promise:

“I will never leave you or forsake you.”

He says it in Deuteronomy.
He says it in Joshua.
He says it again in Hebrews.

God repeats it because He knows we need to hear it.

Are you struggling with God’s silence? Are you wondering if He has forgotten you?

He has not.

He still sees you.
He still loves you.
He has not walked away.

Look again.

He has been there all along.