My car beeped at me and I looked down at the scrolling little message “YOUR COOLANT IS LOW. STOP YOUR ENGINE, YOU ARE ABOUT TO BLOW UP.” The about to blow up part I added when I called my husband. I mean, the car was understating things if it said “Stop Your Engine” right? I pulled over and turned off the car.

Then after a few moments, I followed my husband’s advice. I started the car and expected any moment to hear a loud engine-ending noise while I drove a few blocks to a car lubrication place where a nice young man calmed me down and poured in coolant. Problem solved.

When I started the car to leave, the warning message was gone. I began thinking on the way home how nice it would be if in every area of life there was a scrolling message, something like, “Your life is about to blow up, SEEK GOD NOW!”

Often there is a message, just not one we recognize as such. It comes in the form of some horrible bad thing that happens in my life and my response is to quickly post on Facebook my personal devastation. Instead of seeking God, I am often checking to see how many likes I got with a crying smiley face.

But God is bigger than Facebook! Verses come to my mind in those moments. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” Psalm 46:1.

I understand in that moment of heartache, of deep trouble in my life, the comfort of His presence.

Recently my daughter gave birth to a perfect little grandchild named Obadiah. Before he was born, she was a week late on her due date.  I whined a lot about her being overdue, I even sent her a text message. What’s on your “do list” today, like have a baby? But then in that moment he arrived, I received a text message.

He is here.

And when I held him, it was as if he had always been here.

As I contemplated all of these things, I realized part of joyous living is knowing that God is always present, always loving us and while we may feel He arrives late to the problem we are struggling through, He is very present in that trouble.  I wish I had the capacity to have a scrolling message in front of my eyes at all times telling me that.  But then of course I have a Messenger, the Holy Spirit.

For Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.” John 14:16. No text message or Facebook post could ever give that much hope.