“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:7–10
Do you want to feel close to God? Oftentimes we can feel like God is far away from us. Maybe we feel that he is not listening or that he doesn’t care. We wonder if there is anyone out there or if maybe God has abandoned us.
Of course these are lies, but if we want to feel the presence of God, James tells us how. Like our verses for today tell us, it’s through submitting to God, resisting the devil, drawing near to God, and humbling ourselves before God. We submit to God by seeking his will and forsaking our own. We resist the devil by not giving in to his lies. We draw near to God mainly through his Word, prayer, service, evangelism, and participation in community, among other things. We humble ourselves before God through repentance and confession.
If God feels far away, consider how these four suggestions from the text could help you get near to him if you did them.
Read
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him.”
- What are the promises of these verses?
- How do they relate to our verses in James?
- What is one way you can humble yourself this week?
- What is one way you can draw near to God this week?
Pray
Father, thank you that you promise to draw near to us. There is nothing more in this world we need than that. We long for your presence. We know that in your presence is fullness of joy. Everlasting life comes from you only. Help us to submit, resist, draw near, and humble ourselves before you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
