"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it" (Genesis 28:16).

How easy it is to forget that God is in this place, right where we are, especially if we are discontented where we are. The Almighty God can be found in the most illogical places. Why not, for He is omnipresent. When we least feel His presence, that is when He is most likely to be with us. Even Jesus thought His Father had deserted Him and cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34, Psalm 22:1). The Son was eclipsed by the overwhelming evil, only to shine brightest after earth's darkest hour!

Who has not exclaimed, "My God, My God, where are you?" in the anguish of a dark hour of loss and hopelessness? But it was at that very agonizing moment that Jesus fulfilled His mission and, in our least likely and most hurting moments, we may be crying out to our Father who is already there and is covering our ruptured hearts with His healing promise of wholeness once again. O! let us claim and believe in our most doubting moments His greatness and His love and, above all, His presence.

As we look back over the critical junctures of our lives, we see that it was then that our priorities were rearranged and the results, we hope, became God's will for us. But we can hardly be expected to appreciate the fire that is burning off the dross or the dent in our shoulder from struggling with our cross until we see the finished product. But, as we review our life, we realize that the heavier part of the cross was carried by Jesus and our burden was and is made lighter because of His love.

Yes, the Lord is in this place of anger turned to kindness, pride turned to humility, bitterness turned to gentleness, gossip turned to intercession, doubt turned to trust, ingratitude turned to acknowledgment, and malice turned to love. May we practice the presence of our God who loves and cares, no matter where we are and no matter what the overwhelming circumstances are, for they can never overwhelm our God.