Draw Near
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” - James 4:7-10” - James 4:7-10
Have you ever felt so lost and defeated by life that you thought that God had turned His back on you? Many people believe that God is mad at them and view their current suffering as proof of God’s wrath. Sometimes our decisions make us face painful consequences, or our life may have simply taken an unexpected and devastating turn. Addictions to alcohol, drugs, or pornography may have us feeling worthless. Also, our overspending and debt may leave us feeling hopeless. Either way, we suffer and think that God is punishing us.
Years ago, because of my horrible decisions and actions, I went from a comfortable life of privilege to homelessness and eventually incarceration. I harmed many people and brought shame to my family. My wife and four children left me, and I did not know where my next meal was coming from. I believed that my life was over and contemplated suicide. I had sinned against God and thought that there was no way that He could forgive me, much less love me. Thankfully, God showed me that I was wrong. While Satan uses harmful circumstances and our sins as an attempt to accuse us before God and to destroy us, the Word of God says that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” God can use our painful situations for our benefit.
In most cultures around the world, success is measured by our accomplishments. Our annual income, house size, the car we drive, developing innovations, or having a high business insight determines our value. We take pride in our hard-earned social standing, and it serves as our foundation. Therefore, it is devastating when we lose it all. Everything that we thought had defined us is gone and we question our purpose and very existence. Ironically, these are the times that God reveals our true value.
Today's text in James offers us one of the greatest promises in the Bible. It is a reciprocal cause and effect relationship. James promises that when we submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God, He will draw near to us. We are then encouraged to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts.
One thing that I have noticed in life is that we do not put God first and seek first His kingdom until we have tried to live life our way and then failed. Life gets busy and we do not prioritize God and His will for our lives; therefore, God often uses our difficulties to draw us closer to Him because we all too often fail to seek Him until we are suffering.
The Bible teaches us how to live before God and how to love Him and each other. When we fail to seek God through prayer and to seek wisdom through the Word, we often live according to an earthly standard that brings us to misery. Our pride elevates our wisdom above God’s, and we need to learn humility. God loves us and wants to bless us if it is in His will, yet He will not compete for our affections with the idols we have set up in our hearts. God patiently waits for our plans to fail and for us to seek Him with all of our hearts. Then He reveals His perfect plan for our lives.
When we acknowledge God and draw near to Him, we find true meaning in life. God has a plan for each of us. Our purpose in life is to glorify God by simply sharing His love and give a reason for why we have hope (1 Peter 3:15). While Satan attempts to destroy us with suffering, God's deliverance is our testimony. For when we witness others suffering and living in misery, we can share our hope and the promise of James. When life seems like a big failure, draw near to God and He will draw near to you.