Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Draw Me Nearer

 "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." - James 4:8a

A friend of mine has been posting three word sentences as her facebook status for the past several weeks... In every case, the first two words have been, "God is...." A few days ago, her status simply read, "God is... near." I had been going through a bit of a weird funk -- for lack of better words -- for a few weeks, and when I read her status, I received the gentle reminder that God is, indeed, near.

What I had been feeling was like when you go window shopping with someone. You know that they are there, because they came in with you... But then you find yourself further interested in something and rush over to take a deeper look. You find yourself totally captivated by this (fill in the blank here) and have found yourself wrapped up in your own little world. Then you turn around, only to find that the person who was with you is right there with you.... and had been all along. Nothing is "wrong"...  The relationship is still intact... You're still friends... You were just mesmerized momentarily by something that captured your attention. And you are slapped back to reality when you turn around and remember that your friend is there. You knew it all along. And maybe you suspected that they might go and do their "own thing" for a while, since you were totally involved in whatever it was that demanded your engrossment.

There will always be times when circumstances will cause us to feel as if God is distant and distracted from us. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Though the enemy would love to taunt us and tell us otherwise, He is not far away.

He is near. So close you can almost feel His breath on your neck and His heart beating next to your own!

He is within you. (Col.1:27)

I don't know about you, but because He is within me, there is this driving desire to know Him more...and more.... To be so tightly woven that one could not tell one from the other.... And yet, on this side of Heaven, because of my many failings and imperfections, I know that will never be.

Still, there's a longing from within me that wants to grow deeper and deeper in our relationship...

I long for my heart to beat not like His, but to be syncronized with His.
I long to breath as He breathes.
I long to see as He sees.
I long to hear as He hears.
I long to speak as He speaks.
I long to love as He loves.
I long to live as He lives.

I think that was what Fanny Crosby was talking about when she wrote Draw Me Nearer. It's based on Hebrews 10:22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

Draw Me Nearer

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy Voice
As it told Thy Love to me.
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee....

Refrain:

Draw me nearer,
Nearer, Precious Lord
To the Cross
Where Thou Hast Died.

Draw me nearer
Nearer, Nearer Precious Lord....
To Thy Precious bleeding side.


Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,

By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.


Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!


There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.

Draw us nearer, Lord!