God Draws Near

This post is a chapter taken from my book entitled From Captive to Conqueror which will be officially available on Amazon in mid-October. 

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God Draws Near

He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his canopy around him—

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

(2 Samuel 22:10-12)

When we are in the midst of a struggle and feel ourselves losing the battle, God seems very far away.  It feels as though He is holding Himself at a distance, waiting for us to “get our act together” before He will be willing to have anything to do with us.  This is not what God is like, though.  He is not waiting for us to clean up our act.  He is just waiting for us to admit that we can’t do it without Him.  When we do that—when we call out to Him—we find that this almighty, holy God bridges the gulf that prevented us from having an intimate relationship with Him.

He parted the heavens and came down.

God draws near.  He is not distant and aloof.  No, not at all.  What we were incapable of doing in our own power—drawing close to God—He did for us.  The hand of God parts the heavens that had seemed to be closed up tight against us and He rushes to the rescue.  Notice the imagery David used.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

God comes quickly.  Our Warrior God does not dawdle around.  He doesn’t say, “It certainly took him long enough to ask me for help.  I’ll just let him stew in his own juices for a while.  Maybe he will learn to call on Me sooner next time.”  God is ready and more than willing to come to the rescue.  He will not delay His response to a heartfelt plea for mercy from one who is desperate enough to surrender wholly to whatever God asks.

He made darkness his canopy around him—

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

God is not daunted by the enormity of the struggle.  When we are in the midst of a struggle against spiritual enemies – pride, ungodly thoughts, addictions, compulsions, or whatever – life is full of spiritual storm clouds.  The deeper the struggle, the darker and more threatening the clouds seem to be.  God is not dismayed by any of it.  He makes even the storm clouds be like a canopy around Him.  Even they are subject to Him.  Fully able to command them to do whatever He wishes, God draws near.