DAILY DEVOTIONAL – September 24, 2020
“Ever Nearer”
Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, we admit that in our sin and doubt there are times we foolishly think You have forgotten about us or left us alone. Strengthen our faith and give us eyes to see that You are in fact always with us, especially in those times when we feel alone. Remind us as Your Word teaches us in the book of Hebrews that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.
Scripture: Psalm 90:13-16
O Lord, come back to us!
How long will you delay?
Take pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
Replace the evil years with good.
16 Let us, your servants, see you work again;
let our children see your glory.
Devotion – “Ever Nearer”
I think it is something every child of God experiences in their faith life. That feeling of being distanced from God. The feeling of God being too far away when we want Him to be closest to us.
I hope you know how very close God is my friends, and that you can find great comfort in that fact. He’s still with you, always has been, and always will be.
In our Psalm for today from chapter 90, we’re told this is a Psalm of Moses. Moses knew a thing or two about tuff times – wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, waiting on the Lord to provide food and water and save the Israelites from the relentless landscape. The Israelites would regularly complain and grumble against Moses, blaming Him for their situation. One can certainly understand how Moses had moments as we see in Psalm 90 where he cries out to God, “Lord, come back! How long will You delay?!” I’m sure like Moses, like me, you have also had those times. Those times when life is hard, when we just can’t seem to win, when we feel alone, that everyone is against us and we feel completely incapable of fixing our situation. We feel as though God couldn’t be farther away and we cry out, “Where are You Lord?! Come back! I need You close!”
You know friends, the truth is, we have given God no reason to come near to us. Our sin, our rebellion against God and the wickedness we share in our hearts with all of fallen humanity has separated us from God. Sin cannot be in the presence of a holy God, and since the first sin of Adam and Eve when God forbid them from entering back into the Garden of Eden, sin has corrupted us, and no one deserves to have the Almighty Everlasting God be near them.
However, this exactly why we call the good news of Jesus GOOD NEWS! No one deserves to be in God’s presence, and because of sin no one could be in the real presence of God and live. So instead, out of the eternal riches of His love and grace and mercy, God came to us. God put on human flesh being born a man. The Son of God Jesus Christ brought the Kingdom of Heaven near, and through the sacrifice of His own perfect life on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the full wrath of God and paid for each and every one of our sins that stood in between us and the presence of God.
When Christ breathed His last and gave up His life, the veil in the Temple that hid the presence of God was torn in two; symbolizing that salvation had been provided, that sin had been paid for and that by faith alone in Christ and His death and resurrection, God now makes His home in our hearts!
Ephesians 2:13 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Think about that my friends. Jesus didn’t hesitate to endure the crucifixion you and I should have suffered and die the death we earned with our own sin. Out of His great love for us, He endured even death on a cross like a criminal so you and I could be saved and restored to God. Jesus is perfectly faithful to the very end, so when Jesus promises in Matthew 28, “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” He means it. He is with you. He couldn’t be closer, especially when He feels farthest away.
Have you ever heard the legend of the Cherokee Indian rite of passage into manhood? In order for a Cherokee Indian youth to be considered a man, he must endure the ‘Rite of Passage.’
His father would take his son into the forest, blindfold him and leave him alone. The boy is lead into the middle of the forest and is sat down on a rock or tree stump. The young man is required to sit there throughout the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the morning sun shines through it. No matter what the young man hears or feels – no matter what he thinks may or may not be on the other side of the blindfold – he cannot remove the blindfold, stand up or move, or cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night successfully, he would take his first step into manhood.
Of course, the boy is naturally terrified. He knows what beasts and bugs lurk in the night and he can hear all kinds of noises. He continually has to convince himself that it is only a night breeze and not a grizzly bear breathing down his neck. His whole body is shaking, like a leaf in the wind, but he must sit stoically, never uncovering his eyes. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the sun appears, and he removes his blindfold.
As the young man squints, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light, he can make out a blurry figure directly in front of him…just a few steps away. It’s his father who had been silently sitting next to him the whole night with bow and arrow in hand and at the ready. The young man, now a man himself, realizes that despite all of his fear and the inability to see anything at all, he was never alone.
Neither are you alone my friends. Know for certain that God has never and will never leave you. He who sacrificed His One and Only Son for you, did so in order to be with you both now and for eternity.
May the peace of God’s true presence be with you, as you remember that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
