Look for the joy in the thunderstorm and the colors in the dry desert. Look for song in barren trees and for life under a cold boulder.

I am found in the hidden places.

Tune your eyes to see my hand in places you don’t expect.

Be alert to my presence because I am always here.

I promise life and joy and freedom and a future.

Be bold. Trust that I never leave you or forsake you.

Open your eyes to the hidden places and find my life.

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. All rights reserved.

My book, Cutting Through Despair: Dare to Hope, offers stories of people who have faced hardships and found hope in God.