Life can be dark at times. Even scary. In just the last six months, our family has encountered more darkness than ever before. It has taken our breath away and pushed us to our personal limits. Facing health uncertainties, personal attacks, and the loss of loved ones is enough to put most people in a state of desperate need for God.
I’ve noticed through these months a dramatic shift in my prayer life. Material things I used to ask God for have faded in importance in my mind. Not that I don’t still bring them up occasionally, and I don’t think it’s wrong to pray for those things, but I’ve realized there’s something I need much, much more.
His Presence.
During these last six months, I have begged for God to draw near.
To be close…
To draw me into heaven as much as possible….
And honestly, that’s all I’ve wanted. When you’re sitting next to a dying family member, anything else I would normally ask of God begins to seem so trivial. In that tough moment, all I wanted, and begged for, was the bold and warm presence of my God. I’ve never craved Him so much in my life.
And just like my amazing God, He showed up.
In these hard moments with no escape, I begged God to show up.
And He did.
He didn’t just show up; He healed, He held, and He protected. He did everything and more that you would ever expect an earthly father to do. He says:
“If you (people) then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11)
And what is good? When we ask, what is this good thing He will give us?
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
Psalm 84:11
The best thing the Lord could ever give us is Himself. We were made to be with Him and in His presence always. Because of our great sin, we live in sin, we are surrounded and hurt by sin daily. Jesus traded His glory for our good. He paid the penalty needed to bring us back to His presence. We were all stuck in a hole we could never dig ourselves out of, and he reached down and rescued us.
As you listen to this song, Draw Near, we encourage you to humbly “draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Maybe you feel unworthy. That’s ok! We all are! Maybe the hurt runs too deep. Allow Him to comfort, and heal, and protect your broken heart.
And know this: Our God will not forsake or abandon you. Even if other loved ones turn against you, He will stay by your side. No sin will keep Him away. His complete act on the cross can forgive any sin you would ever commit. And no darkness is too great. No depression, or sadness, or despair is too large for Him to destroy. He will find you. He will comfort you. Just ask Him…..to draw near.
“For I am convinced, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans 8:38-39)
