God is Near

Mindy Simmons

One of my current favorite worship songs opens with these lines:

I’m gonna sing ‘til my heart starts changing

Oh, I’m gonna worship ‘til I mean every word

‘Cause the way I feel

And the fear I’m facing

Doesn’t change who You are

Or what You deserve

I give you my worship

You still deserve it

You’re worthy, You’re worthy

You’re worthy of my song

I don’t know about you, but I find that it is SO much easier to worship God when I FEEL close to Him. I have been a Christ follower basically my whole life, and there have been many times where I emotionally and mentally feel really close to God. But, there are also many times where I don’t feel anything at all, or it feels like God is actually far away from me.

As believers, when we chase that emotional experience of feeling close to God but it doesn’t happen for us, we can be disappointed or think God is ignoring us. There are many Scripture passages that tell us God is always listening when we worship and pray. And I wasn’t able to find any Bible verses that say He’s only close to us when we FEEL like He is!

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

1 John 4:13 - This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.

James 4:8a - Come near to God and he will come near to you.

At times, I need to consciously remind myself that God is always listening to my prayers, always hears my worship, and is always near to me. The Holy Spirit is within us!

I encourage you to remind yourself of this truth, and like that worship song says, continue to worship Him until your heart and mind come into alignment with the truth that God is near to you and the Holy Spirit is within you, even if those emotional feelings of closeness don’t follow right away. Choose to trust Him and remember that He is always worthy of your worship.