Come Closer

I have a friend who is unlike me in the sense that she is soft-spoken and quiet. I know right? How did we get to be friends, lol.

She is not really shy, just more level in her speech and actions.

I, on the other hand, am outgoing, loud at times, and I love to laugh. You definitely know when I'm in the room, lol.

There was something brought to my remembrance the other day about an exchange that she and I had not too long ago.

She was trying to tell me something important and I couldn't really hear her. I thought I knew what she was saying, but I had to ask again. She repeated her words but didn't raise her voice or her tone. I was only a few feet away from her but for the life of me, I couldn't really grasp what she was trying to say to me. I saw the smile on her face and I knew it was something I needed to hear, but I just couldn't make it out.

I finally told her I couldn't hear her and asked her to speak up. She smiled and said nothing. I waited for her to tell me but again, nothing.

At my wit's end by that point, I just told her that I had no idea what she was trying to say to me and I needed her to speak up loud and plain so I would know.

Being the quiet, reserved person she is, she motioned to me and said, "come closer". I happened to be busy at that moment trying to get some work done, and I really needed for her just to tell me what it was and let me go on. After not hearing her, I looked at her one last time and said, "speak up so I can hear you and understand what it is that you want."

She shook her head and said, "come closer to me".

Needless to say, through my irritation, I ended up moving closer to her, where she finally told me what it was that she had been trying to convey.

Let me tell you after I heard what it was, I was so glad that I had moved closer to her. It was worth my effort to get to her to find out the wonderful thing she had on her mind.

That situation was brought to my mind because of something similar that happened to me recently with God.

God has been leading me into new areas of life. Doing new things, and going new places. I have a general idea of what He is doing with my life, but not a clear, laid out plan that I want to see. In prayer one night, I asked Him to show me some things and tell me where He is taking me.

I remember saying, "God, you know me. Sometimes, I'm not the best listener, so I need you to talk really loudly and get my attention if you have to". I followed up with, "even if you have to yell to get my attention, please do so, because I want to hear you."

When I stopped praying, I felt the Holy Spirit say, "come closer."

I was blown away. I wanted God to yell to me if He had to, to get my attention, but God wants me to come closer to Him instead. It was just like with my friend. She was too demure to yell across a room to tell me what she wanted to let me know, so she asked me to come to her.

God won't yell to us, he asks us to draw near to Him and He will draw near to us.

The Bible tells us in many places how we can draw near to God. It's through spending time in prayer, reading His Word, in worship and obeying His commandments.

When we do those things, we are moving closer to Him, thereby making it easier to hear Him when He speaks. Even in a whisper, we'll be able to hear God if we are walking closely with Him.

I was reading in 1 Kings 18, how Elijah had just escaped Jezebel, who was trying to kill him. God told Elijah to stand on a mountain and He spoke to him in a still, small voice.

Don't misunderstand me, God can speak mighty, great, loud things if He chooses to. He can use any means He wishes. But I felt that by Him telling me to come closer to hear Him, it wasn't because He wanted to whisper, but rather for my benefit of having a deeper relationship with my Heavenly Father.

I love that. The fact that God loves me so much that He wants me to come closer to Him is very comforting to me.

Draw closer to God today and listen for His whisper in your life.

Much love,

Christy

Helpful verses:

Jeremiah 23:23; James 4:8; 2 Thessalonians 5:17; Psalm 145: 18; John 12:32; Hebrews 10:22; Revelation 3:20; John 15:7