God is Near

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. Psalm 51:10-13

I have found myself drawn to this passage of Scripture many times when in affliction. It is one of my favorite Psalms, but these verses in particular have resonated in my heart in mind in the past months like never before. Many times we pray and ask God to change our heart but do we know what we are asking for? To ask God to give us a clean heart requires an examination of ourselves and our motives. We need ask ourselves are we honoring God in all that we do? Are we walking in obedience to Him? Are we spending enough time with Him or are we spending time with Him at all?

The past year had its challenges and opportunities; challenges to our faith and who we are in Christ and opportunities for us to draw closer to our Father. For some of us, myself included, it has been a tremendous struggle to stand firm and planted but God has been faithful to give us the strength to keep pressing forward. Personally it was a time of drought. A time where I literally felt like I was gasping for air and clawing my way forward yet by the grace of God, here I am. Specifically in this time I have cried out to God to "create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me."

You see, there are times when we as Christians, will go through periods where we may think that we are alone and we don't hear God speak to us, we don't see Him moving for us, or like me, feel very far from Him and His presence. That does not mean that He is not there! In these moments of loneliness, despair, and intense pain, Jesus is right there with us. Our human nature does not recognize that He is there because we are hurting, frustrated, angry even, and we cannot see past our situation to know that He is there yet He is.

This year I have determined to seek God with pure motives – with all that I have, all that I am, and all that is in me. I have determined to teach the transgressors His ways so that sinners may be converted. The Psalmist David was going through his own personal struggle when He wrote this Psalm but God renewed a steadfast spirit in him and lifted him up because he humbled himself and cried out to the only One who could help him. Today I have renewed strength and I am going to press even harder in the Lord and I pray that you do to. Be encouraged if you are struggling, you are not alone. And if you're not struggling, praise God because He is good!

 

God bless!