drawing near to God

There Is Still Time

/ Baylee Snelling / Leave a comment

I almost didn’t write tonight.

This week has been busy.

Really busy.

And by the time I thought about my blog, I was already past the time I normally like to publish.

So I thought,

I’ll just skip tonight.

And then it occurred to me…

How often do we do the same thing with God?

The day gets away from us.

We didn’t pray.

We didn’t open our Bible.

We didn’t spend the time with Him we intended to.

So we tell ourselves we’ll try again tomorrow.

But there is still time.

Time to stop.

Time to pray.

Time to open Scripture.

Time to turn toward Jesus.

It doesn’t have to be an uninterrupted hour or a perfectly planned quiet time.

A late prayer is still a prayer.

A few verses are still Scripture.

Five minutes with Jesus are still five minutes with Jesus.

Maybe today didn’t go according to plan.

That’s okay.

Don’t wait for tomorrow.

Turn toward Him now.

There is still time.

“Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
— James 4:8 (NIV)

Near

/ Baylee Snelling / 1 Comment

I’ve been thinking about two words lately.

Near.

And draw.

Scripture says,

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted…”

Then James writes,

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

For years, I read those verses as though they were saying the same thing.

This week, I realized they aren’t.

One describes God’s posture.

The other describes ours.

God’s posture has always been nearness.

He moves toward us.

He remains with us.

He doesn’t abandon us when life becomes difficult.

His nearness isn’t something we earn.

It’s who He is.

Ours is different.

We’re the ones invited to draw near.

Not because God wandered away.

But because our hearts have a tendency to.

The more I sat with that thought, the more I realized something.

God’s posture has never been the problem.

Mine has.

I don’t drift because God becomes distant.

I drift because life becomes loud.

Because I become distracted.

Because I begin relying on myself instead of resting in Him.

The invitation has never been to convince God to come closer.

The invitation has always been to turn toward the God who already is.

That changes the way I read both verses.

Drawing near isn’t about shortening the distance between God and me.

It’s about becoming aware that the distance was never on His side.

Maybe that’s why James tells us to draw near.

Not because God needs to move.

Because sometimes I do.

And somehow…

there’s great comfort in knowing that every step I take toward Him is met by the One who has been near all along.

“Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
— James 4:8 (NIV)