Draw Me Closer

I read a story this morning, in a blog like article, called “Girlfriends in God.”  This one by Lori Fairchild was entitled “Drawing Near.”   Part of it was about the placement of the figurines in her nativity scene this past Christmas.  She mentioned that she placed her angel and shepherds outside the manger, and a short distance away.  All the faces in her nativity scene were pointed outward.  Her young daughter at some point rearranged all the figurines into the small manger, turning all of them to focus on Jesus, with their backs to the outside.  Isn’t this precisely what God meant about the childlike faith?  This innocent child knows what is important!  Lori goes on to say something telling though, here’s the direct quote, “Too often, I spend my time where I had placed the shepherds - a short distance away from Jesus. I'll get close, but not too close. Why? If I get too close then God might ask me to do something that makes me uncomfortable or expect me to deal with the sin in my life. Too often, I want to stand out in the field and hear the wonderful news that Jesus came to save me, but I don't want to do anything about it.”

Thing is, if we are distant from God, we can’t know Him.  If we don’t know Him, and I don’t mean know about Him, we can’t trust that He holds us close to him even on the darkest of days when life gets messy, and it does, and even those close to Him question the point and want to feel His presence and can’t.  They can only trust that He is there. This has been a very emotional week.  A good friend is laying a second child to rest today.  Everyone is different in their grief and some, like this friend, are private, not wanting all the attention, even if it is well meant.  They are blessed with people willing to weather this journey with them and I am blessed to be amongst them.

If we always stand a bit of a distance away from God, or our friends, or our family, we may save ourselves the pain of dealing with someone else’s sadness, but we also prevent ourselves from reveling in their joy.  Life is supposed to be shared.  It isn’t perfect and it was never meant to be.  God places people in your life for a reason; I hope you take the time to get close to some of them.  I believe that a relationship has to be established first, and not because of an event.  Even with a great relationship that was already established, this week even I haven’t had a clue what to say, or even what to do.  Sometimes there aren't words, and standing shoulder to shoulder with someone is the most you can do!  Losing one child is tragic enough, losing a second one, in 16 months, is unfathomable.  These “children” were young men, dying of natural causes, as opposed to accidents.  What is natural about dying in your 20s?!

It is an honor to be able to stand up with this family at this difficult time.  It is a privilege to be connected and although I can’t “relate” to their devastation, my love for them that knew no boundaries before any of this happened, has increased immeasurably and I can only say that God is close at hand and perhaps working through me to minister to their grief.  That is my prayer in life, to be used by God to minister to people in their need.  I am NOT that good, but God is!  My choice is to move in close and if God asks me to do something that makes me uncomfortable, then I guess He wants to bless me in a way I haven’t been blessed before.  He has called us to serve others and I have spent too much of my life, serving myself.  It is as simple as loving God, who wants to draw you close!  He will give you ALL the tools you need for any situation you find yourself in.  They are there for the asking, but the relationship first has to be established and focused on Jesus, in that childlike faith!

Looking up!~ Barb