"Draw Me Nearer"

     Confused, discouraged, spiritually empty, maybe even spiritually abandoned, like a ship sitting in a becalmed sea . . .have you ever felt that way?  Like God and you are on a different page and you're just going through the motions of religion and yet feeling none of the emotions?  I know I have and that so have so many others.  I know David did . . . and Elijah . . . and Jesus (remember "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?")  The answer as to why we struggle with this at different periods in our lives usually boils down to our allowing something or someone to come between ourselves and God.  Even in the case of Jesus; for it was at that moment in time when he bore the sins of mankind on the cross and experienced the full wrath of God against those sins, it was at that time he was separated from God.  Oh, the emptiness he must have felt before being able to return to the Father!

     Return to the Father?  To draw nearer to God?  Could that be the answer to filling the void? After all God does draw near to those who draw near to Him.  But how do I draw nearer?  Just a few ideas:

• Fellowship. Spend time with brothers and sisters in Christ; not just in corporate worship, but one on one.

• Pray.  Ask God to draw near and open your heart to Him.

• Write.  Take a sheet of paper and head it "God's Gifts to Me."  Now write down everything God has given you.  You will find the list quite lengthy.

• Meditate.  Reading the Bible is great, but go a step further.  Find passages that strike a chord in your heart and spend some time seriously meditating on it.  Psalm 46:10 states, "Be still and know that I am God."  This is a great time to let God truly speak to you through His word.  (Some of my favorites are Psalms 34:12-15; 34:18-19; 32:1-11; 51:7-12, 17; John 14:1-4; Rev.19:11-13; 21:1-7)

• Remember.  What drew you to become a child of God in the first place?  I remember one persons answer that: "I don't want to go to hell, and I can't help but cry when I think of Jesus dying for me."  It's okay to cry.  Spend time going back in your minds eye to the foot of the cross.

• Commit.  Rededicate your life to God.

• Focus.  Make God the hub of your life and everything else a spoke which must connect to the hub for the wheel to work.

• Serve.  Everyone has been given a gift with which to serve.  Find yours and use it.  Don't worry about walking in any one person's shoes.  Their gift might not be yours.  The only standard to measure yourself against is God's desire for you.

• Expand your realization of who God is.  Yes, He is the Judge and Ruler . . . but He is also Abba, who takes you in His arms and comforts you, who takes you by the hand to guide you, who sent His Son to die for you.  God is love.  He is the Father of the prodigal who eagerly awaits your return.

• Realize.  Your struggles are not new, they can be expected, and Jesus knows and cares about our spiritual battles.  He will give you strength if you seek it.

• Know.  You are loved so much.  You are in the constant prayers of those who love you deeply enough to want to see you have the fullness of life that only an intimate relationship with God the Father can bring.

     Satan is alive and working.  Don't allow him to use your emptiness to destroy you and your family; rather allow that emptiness to bring about the conviction that will draw you nearer to God.  He is waiting with open arms.

-Jennifer Watson

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