Tenth Avenue North – “Closer” (Devotional)

Psalm 69:18

“When we sing, “draw me near, nearer, blessed Lord,” we are not thinking of the nearness of place, but of the nearness of relationship. It is for increasing degrees of awareness that we pray, for a more perfect consciousness of the divine Presence. We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God.  He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.” -A.W. Tozer

I’m a bit embarrassed by the number of times I’ve cried out to God, “Be near,ΓÇ¥ and I didn’t understand in the least what I was asking for. Growing up, I was always confused by Psalm 139 when David says God is everywhere. “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

I was confused, because I’d go to church and we would beg and plead for God to come. My thoughts started heading in the direction of “I thought He already did. I thought God was everywhere!” I think I went cross-eyed a few times thinking about it.

When we ask God to draw near, what we’re really asking is for Him to make us aware of Him. 

But, this Tozer quote helps me considerably. I don’t know where you are on scientific matters, but I like to think of the spiritual realm as a fifth dimension.  We live aware of three presently, with time being the fourth. So, what if when people have an encounter with God or when they see angels in the Bible, it’s just God allowing the angels, who were already there, to become perceptible in our human dimensions? Like I said, I don’t know if this is even scientifically plausible, but it does help me understand what I’m saying to God when I ask Him to draw near.

So, letΓÇÖs not ask God to do something HeΓÇÖs already done. He is closer than our thoughts, so letΓÇÖs pray to be increasingly more aware of Him. Expand our spiritual vision God. Crowd out the lies. Push away the fears.