Walt Disney gives us a false message: “Someday my prince will come.” (Okay, this is a true message, in the ultimate sense. Jesus will come back and make everything right. Eventually.)

But meanwhile, life is challenging. Walt Disney tells us that in two hours all of life’s difficult challenges are neatly resolved. The Bible gives a different story.1 Samuel 23-24 tells of David running around in the wilderness, being chased by King Saul, who wanted to kill him. As I previously observed, David was very close to God and yet God let David go through that very tough period.

In the midst of being chased, David knew where to look – God. (He wrote Psalm 63 in the midst of that flight. He must have been carrying a few pens and some paper with him in the wilderness.) In verse 1: “I earnestly search for you.” And then that leads to verse 4: “Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!” Wow. His longer-term view of reality is amazing in light of his circumstances.

I find it freeing to know that it’s all right that things aren’t always all right. We need God. He wants us to need Him. If you’re in the wilderness today, cry to God and ask Him to show you His presence. He will. Maybe not immediately or in the way you expect, but He will.

Jesus reminds us, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (John 14:1-3.)

(Paul Merrill writes here every First Friday.)