There may come times in our lives when God seems so far away. When that happens it sets us to wondering such questions as:
Why do some persons “find” God in a way that others do not?
Why does God manifest His presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle along in the half-light of imperfect Christian experience?
Of course, the will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children.
The difference lies not with God but with us.
–A. W. Tozer
These words from Tozer remind me of a story and a Bible passage.
The story requires you to go back to the time when many cars had bench seats instead of the individual bucket seats that most all vehicles seem to have now.
A farmer and his wife are driving down the road at a leisurely pace in their old pickup truck when they are passed by another truck. As the other vehicle pulls ahead, they both notice that it is a young couple, and the girl isn’t on her side of the truck but is in the middle of the bench seat, sitting right beside her guy, and he has his arm slung over her shoulder, pulling her in close to him.
The wife then looks over at her farmer husband and says, “That is so sweet. I remember when I used to sit in the middle and you used to put your arm around me like that. Honey, I wonder why don’t we sit like that anymore when we go out for a drive?”
To which the farmer replies, “Dear, I haven’t moved.”
I wonder if we aren’t often asking questions like that to God. We wonder why we aren’t as close to Him as we felt we were in the past? If we ever feel like that, we can be assured that it is not God who has moved away. It is our fault for sliding further from Him, just like the farmer’s wife.
The Bible verse that it makes me think of is Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NASB)
“For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”
God isn’t far from us. He isn’t way up in heaven unconcerned about our lives. He is not out of reach. He is very near to us. And God “has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children.”
“The difference lies not with God but with us.”
If you feel far from Him, it is time for you to move back toward Him – with Bible reading, prayer, involvement with a church family.
I hope that you will never feel far from God, but if you do, know that He is waiting on you to turn and begin moving toward Him again. The moment you do, you will find what the Prodigal Son discovered, that God has been watching for you and is running toward you with open arms to receive you to Himself again.