Draw near to God – Day 2

I once received an e-mail from a reader with the question: “Benescke, how can I restore my relationship with God? I know Him, but it feels like I’m far away from Him. Do you have any advice?”

Do you feel the same? You once had a moment of repentance and salvation, you experienced God’s presence and power in your life, and even had a burning passion inside you to bring as many people to salvation as possible. However, circumstances, a disappointment or crisis, or simply a busy schedule caused this passion inside you to die down. You now feel guilty on the one hand and you don’t have confidence to approach God on the other, so your situation stays the same. This is how the enemy wants to keep you – passive.

However, there is hope to change your situation.

When people break their fast, after a few days of fasting and praying, one of the most important things to remember is not to eat a very big meal. Not only will the body struggle to process it, you might even feel sick. The advice to a person breaking a fast, especially if it lasted longer than twenty days, is to, firstly, drink liquids like soup, so that the body can get accustomed to food again. Thereafter, the person will be able to eat bigger meals without any problem.

This principle also applies to our “return to God”. Instead of starting to follow a hefty Bible reading programme or to join various prayer groups (which is wonderful and has its place), the key to growing closer to God again is, firstly, to become quiet, focus on Him, ask Him to speak to you through His Holy Spirit and to listen to what He has to say. Start small and you will soon experience how your passion for God flares up again, how you cannot wait to pick up the Word of God and read it, in order to get to know Him better. God is pursuing us all day long. We, however, miss many of these moments due to our busy schedules.

Remember, the enemy will always try to occupy us with unimportant things, in order to prevent us from growing closer to God. You can overcome this by deliberately switching off your radio in your car, to talk to God, or just by closing your eyes after reading this piece and inviting God back into your life.

In Jeremiah 31:3 we read: “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you …’” Also, in Isaiah 65:24 we read: “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”

God loves each of us even when we feel far away from Him. Let us return to Him and invite Him to be a part of our lives. He is already waiting for you. God bless.