In those moments, the world offers noise — advice, distraction, hustle, worry. But Scripture offers something different. It offers a place to look.

And what I want to explore today isn’t a list of things you need to do when life gets hard. It’s something better than that. It’s what God does when you can’t.

He Goes In With You

There’s a passage in Isaiah 43 that I keep coming back to. God is speaking to Israel — a people worn down by exile and silence — and He says this:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”  — Isaiah 43:1–2

Notice what He doesn’t say. He doesn’t say if you pass through the waters. He says when. God is not surprised by the season you’re in. He knew it was coming long before you did. And the promise He makes isn’t that you’ll avoid the deep water — it’s that He goes in with you.

That is not a small thing. That is everything.

He Moves Toward You in the Storm

When the disciples were caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee, these were experienced fishermen — men who knew how bad a storm could get. And they were terrified. The boat was getting swamped. And then Jesus came walking across the water toward them and said:

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  — Matthew 14:27

He didn’t say, “Here’s what you should do.” He said, It is I. His presence was the answer. Not a strategy, not a plan, not a formula. Him.

When you are in the storm and you can’t do anything, God is not waiting for you to figure it out. He is already moving toward you.

He Is Familiar With Your Pain

One of the most stabilizing truths in all of Scripture is that Jesus didn’t watch our suffering from a safe distance. He entered it. He wore it.

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.”  — Isaiah 53:3

Familiar. That word deserves to sit with you for a moment. Jesus is not unfamiliar with your fear. He is not unfamiliar with your grief, your betrayal, your sleepless nights, or your unanswered prayers. He wept at a tomb (John 11:35). He sweat drops of blood in the garden the night before He died (Luke 22:44). He cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” — and meant it in His body and His soul.

So when you wonder whether God understands what this feels like — He does. He went there. He went all the way to the bottom of the dark.

And He didn’t stay there.

The K.I.S.S. ~ Turn your eyes upon Jesus!

He Guards What Fear Is Trying to Break

Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians from prison. He didn’t know how his story would resolve. And yet he testified to something that had nothing to do with his circumstances:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  — Philippians 4:6–7

Guard is a military word. It means to stand watch, to hold a position, to protect. Paul is saying that God’s peace — not peace you manufacture, not peace that requires resolution first — will stand guard over the very place fear is trying to break in: your heart and your mind.

And notice, this peace doesn’t arrive when the circumstances change. It arrives in every situation. Including the one you’re in right now.

He Pioneered the Trail Through

The writer of Hebrews was writing to a community under real pressure — people who had lost property, faced public shame, and were tempted to walk away from their faith entirely. His counsel wasn’t a strategy. It was a direction:

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”  — Hebrews 12:2

Pioneer. He went first. He blazed the trail through suffering and out the other side. He is not asking you to go somewhere He hasn’t already been.

And perfecter — He finishes what He starts. Your faith, your story, your life — none of it will be left half-done. He completes it.

He Is With You. Always.

The last words Jesus spoke before He ascended were not addressed to people who had everything figured out. They were spoken to a ragged, still-uncertain group of disciples who were still processing all of it. And He said this:

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  — Matthew 28:20

Always. Not when your faith feels strong. Not when your circumstances cooperate. Not when you’ve managed to pray the right words. Always. Right now, in whatever you’re sitting in today.

Isaiah 26:3 promises that God keeps in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast — those who keep looking at Him rather than rehearsing what they fear. Not because steadfastness earns peace, but because Jesus is genuinely worth looking at. And He doesn’t look away from you.

Whatever is unresolved in your life right now. Whatever is heavy. Whatever you’ve been trying to fix and can’t — He’s already there. He’s already working. He’s already holding what you cannot hold.

That is what it means to turn your eyes upon Jesus. Not to try harder. But to look up, and find that He has been looking at you the whole time.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” — Psalm 121:1–2

“Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!“