So Close & Personal

     I sensed that someone had entered the still-darkened bedroom but my eyelids were too heavy to force open.  I felt breath, small and warm, on my face and I surmised it was my youngest child.  Then the covers pulled back and little feet slid in next to mine.  I continued to doze, only half aware of their presence in the bed, until I perceived a change in their location.  Now I guessed my little friend had propped himself up on an elbow.  I cracked open one eye and grinned at what I saw . . . a miniature face with eyes that bore into mine.  Only inches away . . .  patiently waiting to talk.

     Personal space -- what's that?  A professional distance -- haven't had that in years!  And to be totally honest, I don't mind one bit . . . I love these sweet little people that float in and out of the moments of my day with their faces squished against mine.  I am thrilled they like to be close.

     I am also glad that God likes to be that close.

     WHAT?!  Did that sound odd?  It shouldn't -- He really is that close and that involved.

     Listen to what the giant slayer, David, knew about God . . .

     "The Lord is MY rock, MY fortress, and MY deliverer; MY God is MY rock, in whom I take refuge, MY shield and the horn of MY salvation.  He is MY stronghold, MY refuge and MY Saviour."(II Samuel 22:2&3)

     No wonder that man David could kill a giant without even blinking in fear.  David KNEW God was intimately interwoven into his personal predicaments -- the real, involved thing -- so close and so personal. 

     Do we know that God can still be that close and personal?

     Do we know that He wants to be our rock / fortress / deliverer / refuge / stronghold?  That list alone is like looking up "safest place in the world" in a Thesaurus and being handed the definition.

     God IS that personal.  And He wants to be THAT involved.  BUT He never pushes . . . He waits.  Waits to be invited into our fears, into our problems, into our exhaustion -- then once we open the door?

     Look out . . . the Bible doesn't say He might save; it tells us that God is mighty to save!

     The God that was close and personal for David in the Bible is the very same God that is available to be close and personal to you and me . . . the Bible tells us that He never changes and He always stays the same.  So stop questioning and wondering whether God cares, and start pressing in and telling Him what you need.  He cares THAT much!

"If God is for us,

who can be against us?"

Romans 8:31