That realization came to me when I recently (re)read about Lucy’s encounter with Aslan in “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”. Lucy has just finished reading the spell to make the Dufflepuds visible when she sees Aslan approaching:
“Oh Aslan”, said she, “it was kind of you to come.”
“I have been here all the time”, said he…
It’s very consoling to me to realize that this is always the case. It has kept me from giving in to feelings of worry about the future caused by various physical maladies and increasing old age (I’m 78). No matter what, Christ is and always will be there close to me.
It reminds me of a similar passage from “The Horse and his Boy” in the chapter The unwelcome Fellow Traveller. Shasta is riding a horse and supposed to be going to Anvard with the rest of the army, but his horse wanders off and they get lost in the mist.
And being very tired and having nothing inside him, he felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down his cheeks.
What put a stop to all this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that someone or somebody was walking beside him.
Eventually they strike up a conversation, and Shasta tells of how unfortunate he is because of all the bad things which have happened to him and his companions.
“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.
“Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.
“There was only one lion,” said the Voice.
“What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two the first night, and-“
“There was only one: but he was swift of foot.”
“How do you know?”
“I was the lion.”
Aslan then goes on to explain how he had been watching over Shasta and his friends all the time. Even when I first read this as a child it struck me as a wonderful picture of Christ and his constant care over us.