READ: PSALM 139:1-12; HEBREWS 4:14-16; 1 PETER 5:7

Have you ever thought about God going to school? He has attended school for as long as it’s been going on—He watches all that happens in the world, and He is with you everywhere. So when you’re struggling to make a basket in P.E.—God is there. When you can’t make sense of algebra—God is there. And when your crush doesn’t even know you’re alive—God is there.

I remember the day I fell out of the school bus. I was in seventh grade, not a particularly easy time of my life, and I was riding the bus home. As I stepped off the last step, my foot caught. I tumbled to the ground, books flying in all directions. My house was at the bottom of a grassy hill, so instead of walking that day, I rolled on home. I could hear everyone’s laughter as the doors shut and the bus drove away.

I’d like to say I just got up, gathered my books, and laughed about the whole thing. I didn’t. I cried, and cried, and cried. It wasn’t life-shattering. I didn’t die, but I still remember that day, and it’s been many years since I was in seventh grade. Thankfully, I’m not the only one who’s felt this way. In Psalm 56:8, David says that God collects his tears in a bottle. Our sorrows and embarrassments are so important to God that David envisions God storing them in a bottle. He must have quite a collection of my tears, much of them from my school days.

There will be hard days at school, work, church, home, and everywhere else you find yourself, but don’t worry—you’ll survive. School doesn’t last forever, but God’s love does. Jesus has promised to always be with us, and He can empathize with what we’re going through because He “became human and made his home among us” (John 1:14). He experienced all our suffering here on earth, ultimately enduring an excruciating death on a cross. And then, He rose from the grave in order to end suffering forever. If we know Jesus, we have hope in His promise to return one day to make all things new and wipe every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:3-5).

Consider taking a moment right now to thank God that He cares about every tear you cry—and every tear you stifle. You can ask Him to remind you that He goes with you tomorrow, whether you’ll be in school or somewhere else. Tomorrow won’t be perfect, but it will be better knowing God is walking down those halls beside you. • Sharon Rene

• How does it make you feel to imagine God right next to you? Why?

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8 (NLT)