THE COVENANT

February 13, 2026

Immanuel — God With Us

There are days when I know God is with me — and days when I need to be reminded.

Days when faith feels steady.
And days when everything feels heavy, quiet, or unresolved.

That’s where the name Immanuel meets me.

Immanuel doesn’t mean life is easy.
It doesn’t mean questions disappear.
It doesn’t mean pain is avoided.

It means God chose nearness.

God with us when prayers feel unanswered.
God with us when we’re doing all the right things but still feel tired.
God with us when we’re holding it together on the outside and struggling quietly on the inside.

What comforts me most about Immanuel is that God didn’t wait for us to get it together before coming close. He stepped into humanity — into mess, uncertainty, and limitation — and stayed.

There are moments when I wish God would fix things faster. When I want clarity instead of waiting. Relief instead of endurance. And yet, again and again, God offers something deeper before He offers resolution.

He offers Himself.

Sometimes His presence doesn’t change the situation immediately — but it changes mewithin it. Fear softens. Strength returns slowly. Hope breathes again. Not because everything is resolved, but because I’m not carrying it alone.

Immanuel reminds me that God is with me in the car rides, the late nights, the long conversations, the silent prayers, and the in-between seasons where nothing feels settled yet.

I don’t have to be brave all the time.
I don’t have to have answers.
I don’t have to walk ahead alone.

God is here.

Today, I want to practice noticing His presence — not just in moments of worship or peace, but in the middle of my actual life. The messy parts. The unfinished parts. The parts I wish were already different.

Matthew 1:23 NIV

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’).”

Where does life feel especially heavy right now?
Where have you been trying to carry things alone?
What would it look like to pause and acknowledge that God is with you — even here?

As you breathe in, whisper: “You are with me.”
As you breathe out, whisper: “I don’t walk alone.”

Reflection

Closing Prayer

Thank You for choosing closeness instead of distance.

When life feels heavy, remind us that You are here — not waiting for us on the other side, but walking with us through it.
Help us release the need to have everything figured out and rest in Your presence.

Today, we choose to trust that we are not alone —
because You are with us, now and always.
Amen.