The little Chinese boy set a big goal to cross the Shanghai airport departure area. I watched him carefully place one small foot in front of the other, tracing the thick line painted across the hallway. Successfully reaching the other side, he threw his arms in the air triumphantly. With confidence he retraced his footsteps back to his smiling mother.

Buoyed by success, he eagerly stepped out again, only to encounter a businessman obliviously straddling "his line." I wondered if the boy would turn back in defeat. But with determination he merely settled on a temporary detour and carefully circled the unexpected hurdle.

Intent on his next journey from home base, he nearly rammed into a luggage cart. He stood statuesquely with no sign of impatience on his face. Even at his young age he discerned that this was only a momentary delay.

After the luggage-cart interference, he surveyed the hallway again. Head up and eyes alert, he waited for a moment of certainty. Speeding across as quickly as his little rubber shoes would carry him, he reached the other side and celebrated yet another conquest.

Poised for his last run, he realized that his territory was seriously invaded. As he turned to his mother, I fully expected to see desperation, agitation or even childlike tears. Instead he only smiled. Carefree laughter spilled from his upturned head.

He obviously had not taken his mission so seriously that he was going to allow this change of plan to ruin his day. The satisfied achiever, who had pushed through each barrier and tasted triumph at every turn, happily padded off with his mother toward his next adventure.

Reluctantly, I watched the little mentor walk out of my life. He had taught me valuable lessons in those few moments. Setting goals keeps life interesting and challenging. God intends for us to experience satisfaction when we accomplish our goals. But just as the child embraced inevitable barriers and moved forward, I also must not let obstacles hinder my journey. God promises that He will even use interruptions for my good (Romans 8:28).

By watching that little boy, I had learned a valuable lesson. He reminded me that laughter is God's stress reliever that allows me to fully enjoy life, no matter what I encounter. As a goal-setter with an ongoing to-do list, I sometimes take life too seriously. I must learn to laugh at unexpected happenings. Jesus' plan is that I "have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance—to the full, till it overflows" (John 10:10, Amplified Bible). I will always remember the little Chinese boy who gave me a great gift.

When we share our faith, prayer is vital if we expect to see people respond to Christ. People sometimes overlook the power of prayer when considering evangelism strategies, whether within the context of a local church or in personal evangelism.

In Colossians 4:3, the apostle Paul instructs believers to pray for a spiritual breakthrough. He tells us to pray "that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ . . ." (New International Version).

So make a point to pray. Ask God to bring people to you who are ready to respond. Ask for boldness to initiate spiritual conversations with people whom you interact with throughout your day. Ask the Lord for wise words to engage people about spiritual things. And pray that God motivates you to see people beyond their exterior lives—their "perfect" marriages, jobs and status—into their deep neediness to experience God's love and forgiveness.

We almost missed fall.

First we got stuck in traffic on the way there. Then we had to park a few blocks away and walk. But fortunately the leaves started falling just as we walked down the street where fall was happening. We made it! Not that it would have been a big deal if we'd missed it. Fall arrived every hour on the hour on that street.

I know your fall didn't arrive that way. But in the town of Celebration, Fla.—a community designed and managed by the Walt Disney World folks—fall, like everything else, is under control. On cue, the yellow, brown, orange and red tissue-paper "leaves" blew out of fans mounted on streetlights. They floated over our heads and into our hair and landed on the ground.

Our children, Michael and Bethany, loved catching the leaves. They collected as many as they could, first in their hands, then in turned-up shirttails, and finally in small paper bags from a street-front shop.

My wife, Anne Marie, and I found the experience less satisfying. We have experienced a real fall, and this pseudo-autumn fell short. We know the real thing. Our children don't, so this rather poor substitute thrilled them.

Our fall experience parallels the way people look at their faith. Some have never experienced a true relationship with God and settle for a lesser form of religion. However, once we've encountered Christ, the true God, we won't be satisfied with less. Everything else falls short.

Where is God when I need Him?" Have we not all asked that question at crisis points—when we can do nothing but cry out to God in pain and confusion? We have all had black moments when we suspected, in the darkest part of our souls, that maybe He is not listening to us or does not care.

When we have the illusion that we are self-sufficient, handling life well, and standing on our own two feet, life has a way of reminding us that we are but small, helpless children. We discover forces too great for us to overcome alone. We run crying to the Lord, seeking comfort and answers.

So where is God?

After the resurrection of Jesus, something incredible happened. As Jesus returned to heaven, He made a way to remain among us as long as we live on this earth. He released His Spirit to come and live inside each one of His followers.

That is why Jesus told His disciples that it was better for them that He leave this world. As a human, His presence was limited. But by giving us His Spirit, He is among us in the deepest and most powerful way—living within our hearts. We have Jesus' counsel, comfort, strength and friendship with us wherever we go.

But if God is within us, why do so many live lives with little awareness of His presence? We face life's problems without taking advantage of His wisdom and strength.

Psalm 145:18 says, "The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him sincerely" (New Living Translation). The Lord longs to maintain an intimate relationship with every one of us. I believe the key word here is sincerely. How sincere are you in calling upon the Lord? Do you really want to have a daily dependence upon Him? Or are you simply looking for instant help from the immediate problem of the day? Are you concerned He might interfere with the way you want to run your life?

Those impure motives will never cause God to stop reaching out to you. But only when we sincerely desire Him will we discover what He has wanted for us all along.

Sometimes we miss God's presence because we are looking for a dramatic experience. The Old Testament prophet Elijah struggled with this same issue.

Elijah lived in a day when many people scoffed at God. He longed to see Him move with tremendous power and thus silence the critics. Sometimes God did that. But there was also a time when Elijah's life was in danger, and God seemed silent. As the evil Queen Jezebel sought to kill him, Elijah's despair cut so deep that he asked God to let him die.

If God wasn't going to speak or act, and if seemingly no one else served the true Lord anyway, what was the point of living?

God taught Elijah an unforgettable lesson. He commanded him to watch as the Lord passed by. His heart must have raced as he anticipated looking upon the glory of God with his own eyes.

"As Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain . . . but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper" (1 Kings 19:11,12; NLT).

Elijah understood the message God was sending him. God can hurl windstorms whenever He chooses. He can make the earth tremble or set it aflame. But He usually does not choose to move among us in spectacular or sensational ways, but rather in the sound of a gentle whisper.

Elijah had seen God move differently on an earlier mountaintop. But most of the time, as has been my experience, the voice of God is soft and subtle. Please do not miss it by assuming it must be loud and dramatic. God desires that we know Him well enough to learn to hear His still, small voice, even when it is as gentle as a whisper.

Where is God when you need Him? He is with you, beside you, within you. Let us learn to listen for a lifetime. Then we can sing with the Psalmist:

"I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence!"(Psalm 139:7, NLT).

Adapted from His Intimate Presence, ©2003, by Bill Bright, New Life Publications, Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Like most girls going to the prom, I wanted a perfect dress.

My mom and I searched the racks of dresses at the store until my eyes caught what I thought was a beautiful, Pepto-Bismol­pink gown. We purchased it that day—at least six weeks before the prom.

As the dance neared, I bought shoes and had them dyed to match. I also found some rhinestone earrings, a necklace and some hairpins to accessorize the dress. With all that combined, I was ready to model the gown for my dad and three siblings.

About this time, toy makers had introduced plastic guns that squirt special disappearing ink. Once the ink hits fabric, it disappears within seconds.

Mike, my younger brother, had one of those guns.

As I donned my dress, Mike shot me. Blue ink splattered all over the sleeve of my new dress. "It'll disappear within 30 seconds," he reminded me.

Thirty seconds passed. Blue still speckled my sleeve. Thirty minutes later, the ink had still not disappeared. I soon discovered that the stains were just that—stains, and they weren't going to go away.

Our sin is like the stains. It ruins a perfectly fine work of art. When looking at the dress, one couldn't help but notice the blue-splattered sleeve. Our righteous God says that because of our sin stain—our lack of perfection demonstrated by thought and deed—He cannot let us into heaven. The price tag He placed on this sin is eternal death, and separation from Him.

However, He offers to take away our mark. With our stains removed, we can be in communion with Him. He sent Jesus to die on the cross and rise from the dead for that very reason. He conquered death on our behalf. All we must do is surrender our lives to Him, our Savior.

And while God completely removes our stain forever, I can't say the same for my dress. I still wore it to the prom, the not-so-invisible ink buried beneath diamond rhinestones stitched on by my mom.

My pesky brother? He kept his ink gun.