NOW back home after an overseas trip, it was great to be met at the airport with a running hug from my granddaughter and then to return home to others in the family.

While I was not away that long, and was able to catch up with other relatives while away, it is always great to be reunited with those you love and hear their news and their stories, even though with today’s technology I was able to keep up with things while I was away.

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I understand that with family and good friends.

However, when it comes to God, I suggest absence is the last thing we would want or need.

Of course, God is omni-present so even if you wanted to run away from Him, where could you run to? To be continually in His presence is life changing and also deepens our personal relationship with Him, which only makes us want to be there even more.

They say that the nearer you are to God, the further away from Him you feel because of the vastness of His love but also because of all He is and what His only Son Jesus did for us on that cruel cross at Calvary.

Being with Him in this life, and with His Holy Spirit within us, can be breathtaking when you realise a bit more of who He is and that we can speak with Him personally. His kingdom is so vast and yet He cares for us individually.

As the words of a hymn suggest … ‘Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made; Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.’

Discover Him for yourself, if you haven’t already, and find these words to become true for you. Rest in God and in His strength. You will find courage there. And hope for all your tomorrows.