“Come close to God and He will come close to you.” James 4:8
It had been a rough week around our house. My husband was out-of-town for work. My kids seemed to be more irritable, uncooperative and disrespectful than usual. I was feeling overwhelmed and alone.
At times like these, I often expect God to ride in on a white horse and whisk me away from my troubles. I stew in my self-pity and anger, wondering why He hasn’t shown up. But He knows that’s not what I really need. So He waits.
And this is exactly where the enemy wants me. He whispers lies that pull me farther from God.
This verse in James is part of a larger passage about where the passion of our hearts lie. He says that lives are full of strife because of the sinful desires within us. When second things become first place in our hearts, a chasm grows between us and God. It is He alone who fulfills our deepest longings but too often we are distracted by what the world offers instead. The lies of the enemy shout louder than the whispers of the Spirit.
Yet there is hope. James says in verse 6 that it is God’s grace that helps us to stand against evil. When we humble ourselves, acknowledge we can’t live without Him, that He is our first thing, and turn to Him, we find Him standing there, arms open wide.
He’s always been there, ready and waiting. He knows that nothing else but He alone can calm our hearts and give us the peace we’ve long desired. It was He who created that longing in each of us. And it is His grace that enables us to resist evil desires and turn to Him instead.
Do you know He’s waiting for you?
For further reading: James 4:1-10, Psalm 86
Copyright © 2012 Christina Fox, All Rights Reserved
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What a wonderful reminder to start the day with! The devil is always working hard to discourage us, and this is an important reminder for us. Thanks so much for sharing these verses!
So glad that He is always there even though I often am distracted from His presence. Thankful for grace that enables me to come to Him.
Christina, I followed you over here from your place. My first thought of your description of your babies – and their behavior – it made me think of God as he views us, and OUR behavior. My second thought is how you are so right about how we give so much of our heart to this world, to these circumstances, and we forget that life is so much bigger than this whole universe, that our life is important, the decisions we make, the love that we do, but everything is less important than our relationship with the God of all things – who, as you put it, is “ready and waiting”. I hearted this! God bless and keep you Christina, and God bless and keep each and every one of yours. And Happy Easter!