“The Lord is near”
(Philippians 4:5)
Reflection:
It is vitally and wonderfully true that the Lord is near in two important ways.
Firstly He is very close to each and every one of us. Jesus promised that He would always be with us and that, as His disciples and daughters and sons of God, the Holy Spirit would live within us. No matter how we might feel at the time He is right there with us. And as Tennyson wrote with such insight,
“Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet”
In truth the Lord is closer to us than our next thought of Him – which He often inspires.
Secondly the Lord is near in that His second coming is closer than it has ever been before. Although its date and time is unknown He did warn that it would come ‘like a thief in the night’- unexpected and unwanted by the world whilst longed for by His followers. He called on us to be always ready for Him.
So whilst we wait for Him we might yet know Him and enjoy Him spiritually every moment of every day. He is with us in our waking and sleeping, working and resting, loneliness and pain, relationships and joy, suffering and rejoicing, praying and thinking. And while He may not be intent on making our lives full of ease and comfort He is there to comfort us, strengthen and sustain us, guide and lead us, equip and empower us and enjoy our company.
We are the poorer if we treat Him as a distant deity and the richer when we relate to Him as an ever-present reality.
Response:
Invite the Lord to enter more fully into you as You take some deep breaths. Then acknowledge Him, thank Him and share your thoughts and feelings with Him.
Prayer:
Fill my body, mind and spirit please Lord with the life-giving reality of Your presence and help me to know and enjoy Your closeness and Your love. Amen.
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Softly, Spoke the River 