Pathways to Closeness

I think I have well documented over the past few years that I am given to worry. The other day I found some clarity on a thought that had been fuzzily forming in my mind. “Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” (The Message)

As I sat in my rocker looking out over the snow-crisp yard with the sun streaming through the venetian blinds, another thought emerged out of the fuzziness. The place of my greatest need can be the very place where God constantly meets me – a pathway into dependence and intimate growth.

My mind began to race. I had encountered this idea before. Oh yes, from a recent reading of Simply Jesus, “Temptation is one of the places where we can experience a fresh closeness with our Lord. And given the frequency of temptations in our lives, it becomes an opportunity to meet Him on a regular basis!”

Then one from Grace Notes as the author shares thoughts from a friend struggling with alcoholism, “It’s a funny thing…What I hate most about myself, my alcoholism, was the one thing God used to bring me back to him. Because of it, I know I can’t survive without God. I have to depend on him to make it through each and every day.”

Only God! Only God can take what is meant to wither our souls and instead lead us into wholeness. Only God can take what is meant to destroy and turn it into dependence and intimate growth. Only He can take our nagging susceptibilities and lead us into pathways of fresh closeness.