Too Far?

It seemed like an impossible distance. I was 19 years old, walking along Texas State Highway 69 just outside of Tyler, Texas. I put my thumb out, hoping to get a ride to Alvin, Texas, about 230 miles away. I didn’t think I’d ever get there. But after 30 hours of hitchhiking and walking, I made it, exhausted, and fell asleep on the lawn of a church.

I know, that story deserves more details, but they will come another time and this blog post isn’t long enough for that.

But the feeling I had throughout the whole ordeal, “It’s too far away…I’m never going to make it,” is one I’ll never forget.

I think that’s the feeling some of you have about God. “He’s just so far away. I could never reach Him.”

Not true.

God is as close to you as your next heartbeat. He’s not even right around the corner. He’s right next to you.

You might feel like God is a million miles away. But your feelings and reality don’t always match. The truth is, God is right beside you right now. And He’s looking for you to turn to Him.

Psalm 145:18 declares, “The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” Paul explained to pagan philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens that God sovereignly works in our lives: “…that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). It’s especially during difficult times that He promises His presence. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed” (NLT).

So you might be reading this today feeling as though God is further from you than the farthest star. But He is not. Whatever it is that you are going through, His goal for this trial, or this triumph, is that you will look to Him in the middle of it and call on Him.

He created you for that purpose. He made you so that you will enjoy fellowship with Him, and so that He can enjoy you forever.

He’s right there beside you. Turn to Him. Look to Him. Call to Him. And trust Him. More than anything, He wants to reveal Himself to you right now.