“when we feel distant from God, it is not because He has left us, but because we left Him”

As we begin another year, 2021 at last, we typically reflect on the previous year.  While 2020 had a lot of downs, there were a lot of ups as well.  You may have to dig for them, but if you do, you may be pleasantly surprised.  As a friend recently said, 2020 was a gift.  We can learn so much if we choose to.  For example, did we recognize that there was race suppression yet?  Did we get to spend more time with our family, to the point that we didn’t feel like killing each other, but learning to enjoy being in each others company?  Students that struggle being in a school setting were able to study from home and excel- finding they could succeed and bring that back to the classroom.  A lot of houses were painted, people exercised just so they could get out of the house.  Maybe none of these examples apply to you, maybe they all do.

I think the one that I recognized the most was being able to find God in Holy Places.  A dear friend introduced me to her tree.  Just a tree, but after having a ‘God-moment’ it became her ‘Holy Tree’  a place where when she walked by she was reminded to think on God and who He is.  I started to look for where my ‘Holy place’ was and discovered it wasn’t just in one place, but in moments of quiet.  When I had a lot of my mind or recognized where I could find that ‘Holy place’, I sought it out, or made time for it.  The left side of my couch, with a cup of coffee, devotional and my journal, before the kids get up.  The hot tub looking out over the backyard in the quiet morning or evening.  The frequent car rides when my passenger takes a nap.  Walks along the trail near our home.  The youth room at our church.  Yes, even the shower. My extroverted self started to like being a little bit introverted…

God promises to always be with us many, many times in the Bible.  Because we can trust His promises; when we feel distant from God, it is not because He has left us, but because we left Him.  We may be to busy for daily devotions, to tired to pray.  Maybe Sunday becomes another day to ‘get stuff done’ instead of connecting with fellow believers, or to learn what it means to be part of a faith community.  The more we put off spending time with God, the farther and father away He seems.  We then can believe the lie that He doesn’t care about us anymore, and set living a godly life aside.  The empty hole cannot be filled however with anything else and we will walk around blindly.

My biggest encouragement to you in this new year, to be used as a New Years Resolution, is to set aside a ‘Holy Place’ and time to spend quiet moments with the God who promises to give us good things if we ask.  He will provide for us the opportunities to spend time with Him if we make it a priority, and you will not be disappointed!