We often treat faith like it owes us comfort and success.

We show up on Sunday and expect God to make our lives easier, protect our families, help us get that promotion, keep bad things from happening.

When it doesn't work out that way, we feel cheated. Like we held up our end of the bargain and God didn't.

But that's not the deal.

You find God in the messy places because that's where you can’t pretend you have it all figured out.

When your teenager is struggling and you have no idea how to help them, you can't fix it with the right words or the right punishment. You just have to be present.

When your marriage feels more like roommates than partners, there's no quick solution that makes it better by next week. You have to do the slow work of choosing each other again.

When you're sitting with a friend who just got devastating news, you can't say anything to fix it. You just sit there and hold their hand.

That's when you realize faith is about showing up in the hard places and trusting that God is there too, even when nothing changes, even when you feel useless.

And stranger still is this is where joy lives, the deep-down kind that knows you're exactly where you're supposed to be. You're not performing, you're not impressive, you're just present.

This week, when you hit one of those messy moments where you feel useless and have nothing to offer, don't run from it. Just show up. Be present. That's where God is, and that's where joy is waiting for you.

God Bless.
FF