Be not far from me!

    Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus.  Well I am officially living in my house.  I love it.  I mean it is a lot of work and I get overwhelmed with all the things I either need to do or want to do to it, but I am still content.  I have been mostly working on the yard now that I am pretty much all settled in inside.  It truly is a blessing from the Good Lord and I most certainly feel blessed when I call it home! 

Here is my newsletter article for June: 

Psalm 35:22 “You have seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me!”
     In the words of this Psalm, we hear David crying out to God, “Be not far from me!” How often have you cried out those very words yourself? During times where life seems to be crumbling around you, and in your mind God has distanced Himself from you, this plea for His presence is very comforting. During those dark, scary, sad, or tragic moments, we want nothing more than our all-powerful God to wrap His loving arms around us and hold us tightly. We want Him to be right there with us, just as a scared child wants to be close to his or her mommy and daddy.
      However, I wonder how often God has wanted to say these words to us. When life is getting us down, we want God to be right there with us. So we cry out to Him to be near to us and not only does He hear us, but He does come near. He comforts us with His presence. Yet, when life is going good and everything seems to be working out just fine, how quickly do you stop wanting God to be right there with you? Are you like the toddler who once comforted by his parents’ loving embrace, jumps out of their lap and runs away to play forgetting all about mom and dad being there at all?
      As our Heavenly Father watches us jump out of His embrace and run away to go play now that life is all better again, I wonder if His plea is for us to not be far from Him. That we would know we are dependent upon Him even during the good times. That our prayer would be for Him to be near us, even when life is great. That we would cling to Him every day no matter how life is going.
     This came to my mind because now that the weather is nice and I have been spending much more time outdoors, working in the yard, cleaning the garage, etc. I have noticed my own devotional and prayer life slowing down. It is so easy to get busy with the fun things of summer, golfing, fishing, boating, camping, etc. During these fun, busy months of summer it is also very easy to be far from God ourselves. As you get busy, it is easy to put off your daily devotions, your evening prayers, or even going to church. And it happens without us even really noticing. This is when I can picture God, watching us go about our busy lives without Him, wanting to cry out to us, “Be not far from me!”
     I pray you do get to enjoy these summer months and that your life is going very well right now. However, I will also pray for all of you, that even as life goes well and is so busy, you do not let yourself be far from God. Our loving Father is there with you every day; He has answered your plea for Him to not be far from you. Our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is with you every day. He has made Himself present in your life through His living and active Word, through the forgiveness of His Son, Jesus Christ, through His Spirit keeping you in your baptismal identity, and through the gift of prayer. He is not far from you as He is with you always. How will you answer His plea for you to not be far from Him?
      God’s blessings be with you all.