Getting to Know God

So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.
Hosea 6:3 NASB

There will be times in your spiritual life when you feel far from God. A once intimate and vibrant relationship may give way to a distant and dry relationship with the Lord in which you hardly know Him, or at least it feels that way. This relational drift may have been years in the making without you even realizing when or how it happened. Or it could be more sudden and tied up with particular failures in your life. Either way, the distance you may feel as a Christian is not because God is angry with you, Jesus has already absorbed that on your behalf. And it's not because God is unwilling to draw near to you, rather the opposite is true. God is willing to draw near to us and embrace us. As a father to a prodigal son, and as a shepherd to a wandering sheep, God will pursue us and meet us in our weakness just as surely as the sun will rise at dawn and the rain will come in spring. 

It is because of God's gracious character and reliable nature that we are encouraged to seek God and know Him, no matter how distant we may feel from Him. And yes we are called to pursue God with all our heart, but it is He who first pursued us and welcomed us into His arms. This is why Jesus came, lived and died: to bring us to God. 

Today you are probably not as close to God as you'd like to be. You may have drifted a little or a lot, but His call to you is the same: keep pursuing, don't lose heart, for He will come.

Unfailing Help for a Failing Heart

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25-26 NASB

Your heart and your flesh will fail you. You may feel strong for a time, maybe for many years, as though you are invincible both physically and emotionally. But your strength will fade. Your body, your mind, your heart may be broken and ruined by a thousand unforeseen circumstances. And there is nothing you can do to protect yourself from these disasters. Sickness, tragedy and depression do not discriminate. We are all equally vulnerable to such trials. But here also is unforeseen grace: in such agony we are made ripe for faith. For only when we see our helplessness will we turn to the Helper. When we recognize that we have no strength in ourselves then we see reality as it is, and God as our only hope and strength.