Thoughts for Life: God Is Near

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NIV).

Jessica Van Roekel- "Broken hearts are one of the heavier burdens we carry. Unanswered prayers, unfulfilled longings, and unmet expectations can lead our hearts to brokenness. Elijah, an Old Testament prophet, knew brokenheartedness too. His people, the Israelites, continually turned away from God and they rejected his message to return. How his heart must of broke for them.

God revealed himself to his people over and over again and for a time, they served him, but then fell back into idol worship. This led to the famous encounter on Mount Carmel between the prophets of Baal and the lone prophet of God. Fire fell from heaven and consumed the drenched altar, the wood, the stones, and licked up the water that remained in the trench.

The people rose up and proclaimed, “The Lord is God,” and killed the prophets of Baal. Once Jezebel heard this news, she vowed to kill Elijah. And Elijah ran away. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. He had had enough.

Elijah struggled with broken heartedness. And if he can struggle with it, then it shouldn’t surprise us when we struggle with it too. Living for the Lord and seeking to be obedient to him carries with it its own set of difficulties. We wrestle against our old nature that rises to demand its own way, whether it’s through wanting recognition for a job well done or revenge against those who stand against us. We grow weary and declare that we’re done. We have had enough.

There are times when God doesn’t feel near. He feels far off and we wonder where he went. This happened to Elijah too. Imagine standing alone against an entire group of Baal prophets and a people who toggled between serving the Lord and serving idols. Visibly you are outnumbered except you have God—the Everlasting God who has no beginning and no end—on your side.

To the human eye, victory looks impossible, but God fights for you and makes victory possible. Elijah didn’t do anything except obey the Lord. And God won the victory. But then Elijah got scared and ran away.

But in the wilderness, God came near. Under that broom tree, God provided sustenance and rest for Elijah’s refreshment. When we’re under duress of heart, we need to take time to satisfy our needs for refreshment too. Our broken hearts can cause us to throw up our hands in defeat and run away, and when we do, Jesus meets us in that moment, ready to remind us that victory is found in him and that he gives us the courage to stand and face the giants once again.

Jesus is our bread and living water and his yoke is easy. When we turn toward him instead of away, we find that he satisfies the weariness in our heart. When we state that we have had enough, Jesus becomes enough for us. We can taste and see that the Lord is good, and he is everything we need.

Elijah left his broom tree of despair and traveled deeper into the wilderness to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. Again, God met him there and asked him, “What are you doing here?” It is here that Elijah finally gives words to his broken heart. He says, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.

I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me” (1 Kings 18:10 NIV). And the Lord drew near. The wind came and shattered rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then the earth shook and fire fell, but the Lord was not in either. Instead, the Lord arrived in a gentle whisper.

It is in gentleness that the Lord draws near. A broken heart doesn’t need more devastation like windstorms, earthquakes, or fire. It needs tenderness, and that’s what the Lord brings to us when our hearts are broken. He is gentle with our heart. He draws near. Will we come out of our caves of brokenness long enough to see his gentle ways with our hearts?

Intersecting Faith and Life:

You may be feeling crushed by the weight of a broken heart. You might even say like Elijah, “I have had enough.” But let me encourage you to be still and let God draw near. He longs to refresh you physically with rest and sustenance. Jesus longs to be your bread and living water. Run to him. Pour out your broken heart to him. Ugly cry if you need to. He’s near, waiting to receive you with open arms. Take time today to walk into them.

Jessica Van Roekel- God Is Near

Further Reading:
1 Kings 18-19
4 Reasons God Appeared to Elijah with a Still Small Voice

Let's pray-

"Lord, thank You for entrusting me with gifts and talents. Sometimes I’m not sure what they are, but I pray You will make them clear to me. Help me to be brave and share with others the talents You have given me. I want to invest in other people and multiply the fruit in Your kingdom. In Jesus’ Name, Amen." Sharon Jaynes

801-805 one-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-

801- Ps. 147:5 "Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understand is infinite."

802- Gal. 5:14 "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

803- Ps. 119:104 "Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every

false way."

804- Eph. 4:2 "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love."

805- Phil. 1:21 "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Quote for today-

~ Charles Spurgeon- "The true spiritual order of prayer seems to me to consist of something more than mere arrangement. It is most fitting for us first to feel that we are now doing something that is real. We are about to address ourselves to God, whom we cannot see but who is really present.

We can neither touch nor hear nor by our senses comprehend Him, but, nevertheless, He is as truly with us as though we were speaking to a friend of flesh and blood like ourselves. Feeling the reality of God's presence, our minds will be led by divine grace into a humble state. We will feel like Abraham when he said, 'I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes' (Gen. 18:27).

Consequently, we will not deliver ourselves of our prayers as boys repeating their lessons, as a mere matter of rote. Much less will we speak as if we were rabbis instructing our pupils or, as I have heard some do, with the courseness of a robber stopping a person on the road and demanding his money. No, we will be humble yet bold petitioners, humbly asking mercy through the savior's blood." (Spurgeon on PRAYER & SPIRITUAL WARFARE)

Words of wisdom- based on some notes.

Satan always perverts the order of God's Word. To Eve, he said, 'Did God actually say..' As we see in Genesis chapter 3, sin messed everything up! We have worldly resolutions for sin by trying various ways to fix ourselves. But as sin tends to ruin the call of God, and rob us of serving His purposes, we need His saving grace.

Sin has a supernatural origin. What is offered to us then, by God, is the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary! God made a way back to Him, when there was none. He provides eternal redemption through His Son for all mankind who believe and receive what He did some 2,000 years ago.

While we were still sinners, Christ was willing to die for us. This is God's purpose and plan for humanity, but our sin drives us away from Him. God makes a way back to Him through Christ, and helps us in our difficult situations now, often making a way where there seems to be no way!

Upcoming posts:

22nd- Five Reasons to Read Revelation

Lynette Kittle

29th- God's Provision

Xochitl Dixon

11/5th- Ask and You Shall Receive

Lisa Pluth

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