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Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you! (James 4:8, ESV)
One of the great promises of the Bible is that God will draw close to us when we draw close to Him.
I often hear followers of Jesus say, “God seems distant in my life.” Right now, do we feel close to God? How do we draw near to God?
Let’s consider an illustration of what the problem could be . . .
A family was walking in a park when the three-year-old noticed a swing set. He wanted to be swung on the swing. The father began swinging, and every time he tried to stop, the three-year-old started crying.
After a while, the rest of the family wanted to move on, but not the three-year-old.
Finally, the father had to drag the child off the swing. With the three-year-old still crying, the family walked around a shelter house and saw an in-ground sprinkler park.
Water was shooting everywhere from nozzles in the ground. It was a hot day, and the three-year-old quickly forgot about the swing and began running toward the water park.
I then get comfortable on a swing, but God wants to move on to the water park. God moves, and sometimes I stay – and then complain about not being close to God.
When we discuss God being distant, we must ask the question, “Are we stuck in the past of what God was doing?” Scripture indicates our path with God is an adventure with Him leading.
Two passages have become key for me . . .
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).
God leads, and we are to follow – keeping in step. If God seems distant, maybe He kept walking while we stayed on the swing. If God moves, He wants us to experience an even greater adventure.
God is love. A love so vast with the exploration of new things that He constantly moves. In God’s timing, He starts walking, and when we take steps of faith to follow Him, we discover His plans for our future.
Let’s ask, the next time we don’t feel close to God, “Father, what’s my next step? If you’ve moved on, how do I catch up?” Immediately, we find that He’s still close — just around the corner.
Draw near to God, and He will draw close to us. Or, cry out to God, and He will come back to get us!