Is He far away?

We might have heard people saying, “I was so happy when I was saved. The first love was great.” Then what changed? What brings the distance between us and the Father?

I would say it is misunderstanding.

In the beginning, we would have been like, “Life is all about God, and overcoming anything that separates us from Him sounds like nothing.” Then life brought us more challenges, painful events, separations, loss, etc. Those were the times when Satan tries to have strongholds in our minds. Lana Savchuck, in her interview, said the devil strikes us hard when we are at low points in life, when we are emotionally vulnerable. He brings all sorts of accusations against God into our minds. And it develops into a thinking pattern over time.

In the natural world, this is how we keep ourselves detached from someone: by adding all accusations against them in our minds. The same goes for spiritual attacks.

A.W. Tozer, in his book The Root of the Righteous, says, “Nothing twists and deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God.”

As we give space to the words of the devil in our minds against God, which say, “All went wrong because of God,” or, “All went wrong because you are unworthy of His love,” we are drenched in guilt and push ourselves away from the God whom we think of as so pure, so holy, so unreachable, too hard to please, etc. But Tozer says, God is someone who is easy to live with.

Who tried to work hard with their own understanding of God to please Him? It was the Pharisees. How were they? They were bitter. They thought themselves superior to others. They were interested in finding faults in the spiritual life of others.

The other one is, surprisingly, the elder brother in the prodigal son's story. He was not able to understand that the Father's love for him was still the same when He welcomed the prodigal brother into the home.

May we Christians, children of God, never get tangled in any of these things that separate us from God. May we never allow the devil to play anything negative against God or ourselves. May we clearly know that the battle is not between us and God. The battle is against the evil one.

What will free us, then? Renewing our minds by covering ourselves with God's truth. Long for God's Word as the child longs to have milk.

“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”

I Peter 2:2

Tozer says, “Progress in Christian life is exactly equal to the growing knowledge we gain of the triune God in personal experience. And such experience requires a whole life devoted to it, plenty of time spent at the holy task of cultivating God.”

I have personally witnessed the same in my Dad's life. He provided well and enough for his family. He worked very hard, used every opportunity, used all his skills, and God blessed our home. At the same time, I have never ever seen anyone in my whole life spend hours together in the presence of God.

No one can serve two masters. We will end up pleasing one over the other when we serve two masters. We can't devote our lives to the worldly lifestyle and God.

Just check and see how many times we are able to keep ourselves away from distractions like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and focus on and maintain our prayer life with God. The answer will clearly tell us whom we serve.

Tozer says, “The fellowship of God is delightful beyond all telling.” Are we able to delight in His presence?

May we turn our hearts away from the distractions and enjoy and grow closer to God as a friend, as a daughter, as a son, as His beloved servant. May we learn to know His heart.

Dear God, equip us with the knowledge of knowing You. May no thoughts be able to separate us from You. May we learn the height, length, depth, and width of Your love. May we rest in Your love.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.