draw near to god!

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​by Rebecca Vickery
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  James 4:7-8

People have often taken extended breaks from their normal routines to
spend extra time with the Lord. Sabbaticals (from the Hebrew Shabat, or
Sabbath), retreats, conferences, etc., we are an easily distracted people
and the busyness of our lives often requires a call to inaction,
so to speak.

“Be still and know that I am God….” It can be challenging to be still. It can
feel impossible to cease from our daily responsibilities because we
absolutely MUST keep working.

Sometimes, the sabbatical can be forced. Obvious mental health issues
might prompt employers to make their overworked staff take a break. In
my case, I had an unintentional forced sabbatical in the form of a grueling medical treatment. When I entered into my treatment, it became glaringly obvious that I was going to be in no shape to do any of the tasks that I have been entrusted with over the last 20 years of my married life. Hardly any of the fun things I had previously enjoyed would be possible either.

There would be no cooking. No cleaning. No chauffeuring, instead needing my own chauffer. No laundry. No business. No exercise. No events. No Bible Studies. No karaoke. No open mic nights. Usually no guests. No visitors. No phone calls. No answering of emails. No parent teacher conferences.

Everything that I had previously used to determine my value or worth was gone. Who was I without all that I did? How could I be valuable to those around me without all that I could do for them? How could I be valuable to God without all that I could do for Him?

But early on I had a choice to make. Draw near to God and he will draw
near to you. I desperately needed Him to be near to me. So, I needed to
be intentional with the one thing I could do. I could draw near to God. It
was a simple, yet complicated thing. My forced sabbatical had become a spiritual retreat. I would seek the Lord in all of the spaces that my mind could comprehend. When I had nothing but my mind, I would seek Him.

The more I went to Him, the more I knew I could go to Him. I would find
comfort and refuge in His company. My body would be raging. My mind
would be tired. But I could go to Him and trust Him to be there when I
called. I never had to wonder if he would answer my calls. There was no
voice mail, just a direct line. I never had to worry about if he was going to be in a bad mood when I called upon Him.

“Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable
things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16

I knew from scripture that I could confidently approach Him because of my faith in Jesus. His righteousness meant that I could enter into His presence and know that He would answer me. Experience would time and again prove this to be the case. I cannot imagine having had to endure all of the alone time if I had not known that I had a constant companion. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. The treasure trove I had in my heart of scriptures, the Word of God would come back to me and reassure my heart so that even when I could not read His Word, it was never far from me. I had opportunities over the 10 months to submit my plans to Him. I could give him my worries. He would again and again prove faithful. He would redirect my path. He would reroute my thinking.

What was the most challenging time in my life would turn out to be a
tremendous blessing. What the enemy may have meant for evil, God
meant for good. I have had more alone time over the last year than at any other period in my life. And yet, I have learned how not alone I truly was.  Whatever I was facing, I would face it with the Lord, and He would be with me. I have known his closeness in a way that I had not ever gotten to experience before.

Dear brothers and sisters, are you lonely? Are you weary? Submit
yourself to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to
God, and I promise you because HE promises you, God WILL come near
to you. Be still and know that He IS.
​To the praise and honor of His Name.
Amen.
   

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