God Is Near
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Last week, some dear friends of ours received devastating news -- the kind of news that rocks your world. I did not have the words to say to them. I knew how broken I was and could only imagine the thoughts, questions, and emotions that must be going through their mind. So, I did the only thing that I knew to do, and that was to pray.
As I prayed, it was then that the Holy Spirit brought this passage to mind. I can’t begin to tell you the comfort that this Word brought to me. I was reminded that in our deepest, darkest hour, God promises that He is near to us.
God does not get upset with us and run in the opposite direction, leaving us to figure it all out on our own. God doesn’t get frustrated at our hurting, venting, questioning, and tell us to “get over it” or “you should have worked through this by now.” No, our God holds us, loves us, and understands that is the time that we need His presence more than anything.
“God knows us so very well. When we think that God is silent, that He doesn’t care, and that He is nowhere to be found, we are mistaken”
The thought occurred to me that in our darkest and hardest moments of our life, we often wonder why we don’t hear anything from God. Why is God not speaking? You may not do this but I bombard heaven with questions like, “God, why are you not moving on my behalf? Why didn’t you prevent this from happening? Don’t you love us? Please say something God!” And yet, there is silence.
It was then that I thought about myself. As a woman, when I am upset, hurting, and heartbroken, I don’t want Randy “to fix it.” Men want to make it all better as quickly as possible. Don’t get me wrong, we appreciate that about our men. But there are times when I just need him to be THERE to hear me, let me work through it, and process it all. I need Randy’s presence and his silence to love me through it.
God knows us so very well. When we think that God is silent, that He doesn’t care, and that He is nowhere to be found, we are mistaken. I am learning that He is right there with us in the thick of it all. He knows us better than we know ourselves and sometimes, it may be that He knows we need Him - we need His presence more than we need words and conversation. We need Him to sit with us - even if He is silent to be there and walk us through it.
I think about Moses and the children of Israel. God was so angry at the Israelites for their bickering, complaining, and disobedience. God told Moses that an angel would go with them but He wasn’t going. It was then that Moses told God (in my own words,) “If you don’t go with us then I’m not going!” Moses knew that being accompanied by an angel could never compare to having the presence of God. Moses had experienced the power of God and the closeness of a God that cared for him and the children of Israel.
“ Prayer isn’t to change God as much as it is to change us. Even though God already knows the words forming on our lips, He wants us to talk and share our hearts with Him”
So, what do we do in the silence? I have such a long way to go in this area. But, I am learning that there are things we need to do that are vital to walk us through.
Worship. Worship brings us closer to God and is one of the most powerful things that we can do in the darkest moments. Humbling ourselves and honoring God Almighty brings us in line to submit to His Lordship in our lives.
Read God’s Word. His Word brings comfort, peace, builds our faith, and settles us during devastating times. Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”. Even when we don’t feel like reading His Word and we think it is not doing any good – it is! His Word is powerful and penetrates our souls to the areas that we need the most.
Pray. Prayer isn’t to change God as much as it is to change us. Even though God already knows the words forming on our lips, He wants us to talk and share our hearts with Him.
Receive God’s love. Allow God to love you through people, through your church, and yes, in the silence of His presence. Don’t isolate yourselves from the channels that God may choose to use to encourage you.
I don’t have a magic formula – sometimes I wish that I did. However, I do know that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us and knows us better than anyone. Lean into Him. He can handle your frustration, your questions, your heartbreaks, your anger, and your tears. God can handle it because He made us and oh how He loves us so very well. ~
Jesus taught the disciples that their worth to God was more than the sparrows – and Jesus said that God does not forget the sparrow. Jesus then went on to say that God knows the number of hairs on each head.