fresh flowers for April 22

Draw Us Near

©2005, Lani Wiens

a fresh flowers original

In a few short hours I will be leaving for our church’s women’s retreat. Our theme is “Draw Us Near”. I have the privilege of leading worship for this weekend along with a few of my friends. As I’ve been preparing and seeking the Lord for what He wants to do through the worship He’s shown myself and the team a little about how to draw near and why it is important for us to do so.

Psalm 73 is a great example of our typical response to life. Here the psalmist admits that he was jealous of the wicked, they were prospering and he wasn’t. In fact he gets into a pity party over this, going so far as to say that it’s pointless to keep himself pure, why bother after all. Then there is a little four-letter word that changes his perspective. Till. Till he went into the sanctuary of the Lord and then he understood what the fate of the wicked was. Then he declared that it was good for him to draw near to the Lord, so he could understand the Lord’s heart and declare His good works.

Drawing near is important for us so that we can understand God’s heart. As we come into His presence we are overwhelmed with His beauty. Our desire for Him is kindled and we seek to know Him better. Intimacy is born and the process of being known and knowing begins. As we grow in intimacy God reveals His heart to us, showing what it is He created us to do, showing us where He longs to have us be. Then, because of our love for Him we go out and do those things, we become that person. We carry out His mission, we declare His good works.

One of the things I was reminded of in this drawing near process is our own human insecurity. We tend to believe that there isn’t room enough for us. When it is story time and all the kids gather round there is a great deal of jostling for position. They are all trying to get as close as possible, trying to get the best view so that they don’t miss out on any of the story. In our human-ness we tend to think that God is like that, only so big, a limited amount of room available. This is a lie. God is much bigger and can accommodate all of His children near His heart. In Song of Solomon we read, “I have longed to hold you in my arms…” Our Father longs for us to draw near to Him. I particularly enjoy the story times when I have just one of my kids and I can linger over the pages and we speak quietly to one another, enjoying each other’s presence just as much as the story in front of us. With our God, it is always like that, each one of us is His ‘favourite’, He longs to linger with us and show us the deep things of His heart.

May I encourage you to draw near to Him? His promise is that when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. He loves a heart that is coming close to His flame of love. Draw near. Let your heart be warmed by His presence.