My brother sent me a text a couple of weeks ago that said, “I was near you, and you didn’t even know it.” He lives and works in South Carolina. He had flown in the corporate jet to Alabama for a meeting but had stopped briefly at the airport near me. A week later he sent me a text saying he was disappointed that he
had given me a good thought for a devotion, but I hadn’t written anything—
“I was near you, and you didn’t even know it.”
As I’ve thought about those words, I’ve wondered, “How many times has God been near me without me even realizing it?”Sometimes I am sure He was near, clearing the path before me and because I didn’t know what lay ahead, I wasn’t aware that He had been near me and removed an obstacle in my way.
Isaiah 45:2 says, “I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron.”
Then I thought about how many times over my life when God wanted to get my attention about something I needed to change or get right with Him, but in those times I was too caught up in myself and things I was doing that I didn’t know He was there.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me.”
The other thing I thought about was how many times have I been in a trial or experiencing trouble in my life and I felt like God was a million miles away? Have you ever felt like that? The Word doesn’t say that God runs from us in our trouble, but rather that “the Lord is nigh unto them that call on Him, to all that call upon Him in truth” (Psalm 145:18).
Psalm 119:151 says, “Thou are near, O Lord, and all thy commandments are truth.”
Psalm 34:15, 17–18 says, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their cry. The righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
If we can just realize the truth in God’s Word, we will understand that He is near even when we don’t know it.
When you feel like the Lord is far from you, just remember His Words and then sing this old song because He is near to you …close enough to touch:
Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by
You’ll find He’s not too busy to hear your heart’s cry
He’s passing by this moment, your need to supply
Reach out and touch the Lord as He goes by.
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