Draw Near

Recently I happened to search my Bible app for the phrase “draw near” when I was trying to remember a particular verse. I was surprised to see how many times it shows up in the book of Hebrews:

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16).

“…a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God… Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (7:19, 25).

“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near” (10:1).

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (10:22).

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (11:6).

The author of Hebrews makes it clear that we can approach God with confidence because of what Jesus did for us—paying the penalty of our sin and covering us with His righteousness. We have assurance that we are children of God with full access to our heavenly Father.

It occurred to me that I tend to avoid drawing near to people because I am not confident of their love for me and I wonder whether I am even wanted. But for the most part I don’t have that hesitation about drawing near to God both in joy and in pain. That has not always been the case. Before I had a good grasp of God’s grace, mercy, and love, I thought He was surely disappointed with me most of the time. Thankfully, I’ve realized that isn’t the case. I’m glad to know I can draw near to Him at any time.

In theory, if I’m secure in God’s love, I should be more secure in love for people as well. Someone has used the analogy of spokes on a wheel, with God at the center. As people draw nearer to God, they also draw closer to all the other spokes. While I believe that is the ideal, there often seems to be a kind of disconnect in the church at large. Western individualism has made faith into a “Jesus and me” proposition rather than members of one united body.

Whether we’re spokes on a wheel, branches on a vine, members of a body, living stones in the temple of God, or the family of God, we are meant to be confident in God’s love for us and our love for others. Let us draw nearer to God and to one another with each passing day.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8a). “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well” (James 2:8).

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© 2024 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Nearer to Thee

One of the best books I’ve read this year is Following Christ: Experiencing Life the Way It Was Meant to Be, by Joseph Stowell. Although it’s more than a decade old, it seemed particularly relevant to what I’ve been thinking about and experiencing lately. Other books have also addressed the difference between being a Christian leader and being a follower. (More recently published I Am a Follower, by Leonard Sweet, although I found the style of that one hard to read.) Stowell comments:

“Scripture is crystal clear about the profile of a true follower of Jesus Christ… First, a follower was one who had a growing and deepening relationship to the one they were following… Second, a true follower is in the process of a radical reformation because of the influence of the leader on his life. True followers do not remain the same once they start following Christ… For us then, following means to adopt Him as the local rabbi of our lives and surrender; to sit under His wisdom in order to learn from Him; and to serve Him in every way possible. It means to give Him the highest priority as the supreme relationship of life out of which every other relationship and activity is defined and directed” (73,75).

Once you’ve become a Christian and learned the basics, it’s easy to fall into the “religious habit” of doing certain activities but not really following Christ and not growing in faith. You can be active in the spiritual disciplines—reading the Bible, praying, going to church, etc.—but not be changed by any of it. Stowell gives a great word picture of this life:

“Going into orbit around Christ mean stifling any further impulse of movement toward Him… Fully devoted followers are involved in a passionate pursuit of Christ and are never satisfied with stagnancy or a stalemate. Yet becoming an orbital Christian is alluring because it is more comfortable and less challenging, and besides, we can always take satisfaction in the fact that there are others whose orbits are father out than ours” (96).

I’ve been realizing anew that I don’t want to be satisfied with the status quo. I don’t want to be content with going through the motions without being drawn consistently nearer to Christ. I want God to do whatever it takes to keep conforming me to the image of Christ (see Romans 8:29 and 12:2). Stowell asks, “Can you believe that there is no price too high to pay to experience the privilege of walking with Him?” (102). Missionary David Livingstone wrote in his journal, “God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours.” That can be a frightening thing to pray, unless you are convinced that God is worth it all and following Him is the supreme adventure in this life.

The old hymn by Charles Tindley urges “Nothing between my soul and my Savior…” It has been my prayer lately that God would not allow anything to remain between us—no sin, no habits, no desires, no goals or priorities—nothing that would interfere with being “rooted and grounded in love” and comprehending “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17-19). I want Him to keep pruning away all that is unfruitful in me.

Even as I write and pray that, I am aware that my choices don’t always line up with my heart’s deepest desire. I know how often I choose distractions instead of seeking God. It’s easy to turn on the TV, flip open a novel, or even go to bed early rather than spending time in the Word and prayer. Although I’m somewhat more disciplined than I was a year or two ago, I know I’ve just settled into a new orbit a little closer to the Son. But I also remember from physics that if you get too close to a large mass, the gravitational force will continue to pull you in unless you are actively working against it. So I trust that God’s pull on me will be ever increasing and He will not allow me to remain at a distance.

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” –Hebrews 11:6

Draw Near

Our theme for the church Labor Day Retreat was Isaiah 55:6-9:

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (ESV).

As we discussed these verses and thought about some specific ways we need to seek the Lord right now, a couple other Scriptures came to mind for my own needs: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18) and “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8a). A quick Bible search also revealed six instances in the book of Hebrews that illuminate the benefits of drawing near to God—mercy, grace, hope, intercession, sanctification, assurance, and faith.

Then last night I was reading Psalm 69 and took special note of verse 13: “But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of Your steadfast love answer me in Your saving faithfulness.” God alone knows the perfect time to answer any prayer, as well as what the best answer should be. In addition, His answers will always be tempered by His love, and His faithfulness assures that He will leave nothing undone that should be done. Those are strong promises to cling to when the way seems dark.

I’ll admit there are two questions that recur in my mind quite often, “Why?” and “How long?” The psalmists asked the same thing, but those are two questions that God never seems to answer, or at least not as fully as I might like. In Cries of the Heart, by Ravi Zacharias, there’s a chapter on “The Cry for a Reason in Suffering” that talks about the life of Job. He draws out several conclusions that are worth considering:

“First and foremost, we must understand that suffering, death, disease, pain, and bereavement are all part of life, whether we be righteous or unrighteous.

“Second, we see that the role of a friend is very pivotal in seeing people through their times of anguish. Let us never underestimate this point. God’s answer for burdened, hurting hearts may well be the shoulders of a friend as we bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

“Third, we know that most answers of this nature require a process. The questions must become more selfless before the answer becomes more personal…

“Fourth, we have learned, as Job did, that the answer to suffering is more relational than it is propositional. Those who know God personally and understand the cross are better able to find help in the dark night of the soul than those who merely tackle their problems philosophically…” (88-89).

That last point is probably more vital than most of us realize. It’s easy to get sucked into theological debates when what is really needed is an assurance that God is in control and that He cares. If God is God then He doesn’t need to explain His actions, and we wouldn’t live long enough to listen to the detailed explanation anyway. Though we may receive some answers to our questions, we can’t make that a prerequisite for believing and obeying God. Faith and trust grow as we experience relationship with God, not when we have every answer explained in a contractual agreement.

The passage from Isaiah is a reminder that God’s thoughts and ways are beyond what we can comprehend. The instruction is to seek Him and call upon Him, not so we can fully understand what He is doing, but so we can draw near and receive the assurance and hope we need for each day.

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” -Ephesians 3:20-21