Closest

             Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8) 

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. (Psalm 145:18)

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:7-10) 

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” (Genesis 28:16)

 

When and where do you feel close, or closest, to God? How do you feel at these times? These questions summarize the exercise for today. It’s suggested that we should keep a journal so that we can note what we notice quickly. But I know myself. I have to work today, and I have chores to do, and until that’s all done, I’m focused on “This” and “Next!” and just about everything but God. That’s not to say that God won’t be near. Scripture makes it clear that God is omnipresent. We can’t escape Him. It’s just that my awareness will be on the petty gods that demand my attention with their presence or their charges of negligence because I’m not performing well enough.

The directions go so far as to suggest I should do this for a week, but there have been sufficient experiences in the past to give me a good clue about the answer. I feel nearest to God when I wake in the morning or before I fall asleep, when I take a moment before getting out of bed, or before falling asleep, to talk to God.

I feel nearest to God when God interrupts my busyness with something beautiful or otherwise attention-grabbing. There were a number of times he gave me the moon – while I was in the house – because it reflected in the rear window of my car so that I could see it out the back window. Another example is when I am listening to good worship music. Or reading some particularly good description or passage.

I feel nearest to God when I’m alone, or as alone as I can get. I usually have the dog, and/or my camera, and whatever noise that’s going on in my head, but all the other petty gods can’t distract me as easily.

I feel nearest to God when I’m dealing with ideas or when I am, so to speak, in the zone. This is a tough one. It doesn’t always happen, because my attention may also be focused on the activity or thing.

Sometimes, I feel close to God when I’m picking up litter, or when I find myself thinking about how far down the social ladder I’ve slid. Jesus was willing to wash feet – a low-level slave’s job. I pick up other people’s trash. Sometimes, I feel closer to God in doing it. When I am in the “closest to God” situation, I tend to feel more relaxed, more free to question or explore, and not judged and found wanting.

 

Something that, oddly enough, makes me feel less close to God is the Bible, the sermon, the inspirational, and the evangelical. The reason for this is that I tend myself focusing on definitions, words, and the fact that I’ve read or heard them all before or I find myself focusing on myself, and my successes and failures about the ideas presented.

Switching from me to you – when do you feel closest to God, and what does it feel like?