I love the nearness of God. I love feeling close to him, and knowing that he’s here for me, no matter what. It brings me a lot of peace. He unravels whatever’s troubling me when I work through it with him.
Do you ever feel like God is far away? Like he doesn't see you, or doesn't care? Nothing could be further from the truth. He knows, he sees, and he cares. We often don't realize that we erect walls to keep him away. By ignoring him in our daily lives, we effectively say, I’ve got this—thanks. I don’t need your help. Then, when trouble hits, we wonder, Where is God? Why is this happening to me?
God is near to us . . .
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he's not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26–28, NIV)
We can't see him, we can't touch him, but he's here—ready to catch our tears when they fall—to listen, to correct, to comfort—and bring light to so many things that we don't understand in this life. We don't know him completely, but he knows us—our whole being.
Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you're familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, oh Lord. (Psalm 139:1–4)
If God knows us this intimately, doesn't it follow that he’s interested in our lives? Listen to Jesus’ heart as he weeps over the people he came to save: “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41–42). His concern extends to us as well:
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:10–13)
One of the closest relationships, parent and child, is offered to us by God. He gives each person the opportunity to become a son or daughter of the highest King. Even more, he expresses his desire to become spiritually united with us: “I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord” (Hosea 2:19–20). This beautiful expression of love for the Jewish people is followed by a similar one in the New Testament to all people. In 1 Timothy 2:4–6, we read that God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.”
When we are united to God through Christ, we are given access to an intimate relationship with him. We gain protection, guidance, help, provision, peace, and an accepting love that is greater than we could imagine. Who wouldn’t want these things in life? I know I do. Receive all that God has for you. Don't be content, or rather discontent, with a lesser life.
