Draw Near to God
Have you ever felt like you were spiritually dry? Empty. Dull. Numb. Distracted. Stagnant. Stale. We use lots of words to describe this experience, and if you’ve been a Christian long enough, you can probably point to a time when you have felt this way. Maybe you feel like you’re in a season like this right now. It can often feel like the path to getting out of it is as complicated and discouraging as it is mysterious. What prayer should I pray to fix it? What book or article should I read to lift the spiritual fog? Maybe a spiritual practice I don’t know about, or a sermon point I’ve never heard before will make everything clear. Maybe there is some hidden mysterious combination of things that I’m not doing that I need to figure out. What if I don’t really want to pray or read or listen or do any of these things, I don’t really feel like I’m getting anything out of it—What then?
Seasons of Spiritual stagnation and dryness can discourage and overwhelm us, and sometimes even leave us feeling paralyzed. Like no matter what we do, we can’t seem to move from where we are. But I want to offer you a very simple prescription if that’s where you find yourself this morning. Or, if that’s not you today, something you can store away for a rainy day that will hopefully demystify how to get through spiritually dull or dry seasons when they come. And it’s the simple exhortation of James 4:8—”Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” That’s all. Just draw near to God, and he promises to draw near to you. If you’re a Christian, it doesn’t need to be or feel any more complicated than that.
Now, you may say, well, ok. What does that mean? I mean, God is omnipresent, he’s everywhere right, so what does it actually mean to draw near to God? The command to draw near to God uses the metaphor of physical space to describe a spiritual reality. If I draw near to you, it means I get closer to you. Drawing near to God is any intention of our heart or decisive act that we might do that seeks as its goal, its chief end, spiritual good from God. This could mean any number of things—prayer, Bible reading, corporate worship, confession of sin, fasting, even just thinking about the meaning of a single Bible verse—anything done with a heart that is seeking good from God. And when we do this, the Bible promises that he will draw near to us in that. This unique blessing is only possible for those who are in Christ.
Do you find yourself in a spiritually dry season? Are you unsure if and when or how you will come out of it? Then heed this simple exhortation today: Draw near to God. Seek spiritual good from God in your daily life, and he promises to draw near to you in that. He will not withhold anything good from those who seek him earnestly.
But as we go through life, what we often find is that our problem is often not one of technique mastery, or knowing the right things to do. It’s deeper than that. Our hearts often don’t want to seek spiritual good from God. In seasons of spiritual stagnation or emptiness, we too often turn away from God, the fountain of living water, and instead busy ourselves with distraction or bury ourselves in entertainment or hobbies or work.
And so I simply ask, what would it look like for you to draw near to God this morning in order to receive from God the refreshment and good that he promises for your soul?