James 4:8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
When I first became serious about my relationship with God, this was a scripture that stood out. One that I grabbed onto. One that when I find no other words to pray, I pray these, and when I do…something awakens deep inside of my being. It is through this scripture that God has persuaded me to try Him out.
When I was in high school I had a teacher that was into psychology and a huge advocate of self-help books. Her passion piqued my interest, and I read several of her suggestions. They were great reads by very well intentioned authors, but I never seemed to get the help I was seeking from them. Each book led me to the next thinking maybe, just maybe, the next author would have the answer to the emptiness that plagued me, but they didn’t.
Isn’t it interesting in our search to become whole…we expect our answer to be utterly profound and complex –hard to find. It wasn’t until I grew in my faith for several years that I committed myself to opening my Bible and reading it intentionally. I was purposeful in spending time in His word, truly listening to and seeking James 4:8. Through this basic, simple, and seemingly unprofound practice I have realized that fixing me wasn’t going to be expensive or out of reach. In fact, my fix was in a book that had laid beside my bed unopened since I was a teenager. After spending time reading it, I came to realize that He never meant for me to fix myself. Like the woman with the issue of blood, we are all broken in need of our Savior. Think on that…let that resonate with you, and allow me to make the following analogy…When your car is broken down needing fixed…We have options, different places to go for repair, some fixes, most anyone can take care of, but there are times the issue is too complex, and they send you to the dealer. The place with the most expertise, the one connected to the manufacturer, the maker of the vehicle. We are much like this; we have problems, we go place to place, talk to various people, try numberous things only to find in the end, the solution to our problem, our brokenness, is found by reaching to our maker.
Through His word we find He is the answer to our every need. His Word describes Him as the following:
El Roi – the God who sees me (Gen 16:13)
El Gibbor – the mighty God (Isa 9:6)
El De’ot- the God of knowledge (1 Sam 2:3)
El Sali – God of my Strength (Psalm 42:9)
El Rachum- God of compassion (Deut 4:31)
Further readings teach us that He is our;
Comforter, healer, confidante, friend.
All the things we need to make us whole! And He gives us the opportunity to let Him be all of these things and so much more but that decision….He leaves to us…we just have to … Choose Him.
photo credit: I will try fix you via photo pin(license)