Isn’t it great that God wants to rescue us personally!  5x’s God says “I will…”. He never pushes us away, He never passes us on to His heavenly secretary. He has taken out every middle man to reach us personally. We’ve got direct access!  Run today to a God that is not distant or impersonal. He loves to meet you directly!

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According to wonderfully wise world of Wikipedia, “The phrase ‘Objects in mirror are closer than they appear’ is a safety warning that is required to be engraved on passenger side mirrors of motor vehicles in the US. It is present because while these mirrors’ convexity gives them a useful field of view, it also makes objects appear smaller. Since smaller-appearing objects seem farther away than they actually are, a driver might make a maneuver such as a lane change assuming an adjacent vehicle is a safe distance behind, when in fact it is quite a bit closer.”

I believe David gives us a similar admonishment in this Psalm when He reminds us “God is closer than He appears.” Just as the mirrors’ convexity may skew our perception of reality, so the Lord’s apparent invisibility in our circumstances may skew our perception of the Lord’s nearness. Take a moment and think about the Lord’s nearness. As you call upon Him in truth, He promises, “I am NEAR….I am NEAR…I am NEAR.” I love thinking about the Lord’s nearness to me in this moment of human history in my present circumstances.

God is PRESENT in your circumstances. The thing is, we never know just how He is going to reveal Himself. He loves to show up in the most unexpected ways….

• He came as a ram in the bush to Abram as he was about to sacrifice his own son Isaac.

• He came in a burning bush to Moses in the wilderness.

• He came as chariots and horses to Elisha and his servant as they were surrounded by their enemies.

• He came as a blinding light to Saul on the Damascus road.

• He came as a voice in the midst of loneliness to the Apostle John on the isle of Patmos.

He is closer than He appears. May we remember that even when He feels farther away that our perception is skewed. He is going to break in at just the right moment because He promises that He “fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” He is NEAR…He is NEAR…He is NEAR! How and when will He reveal Himself in your present circumstances and surprise you with His goodness?

Click below for today’s Video Devo.

There once was a time in my life where I was one of the most non-muscular guys around… (Ok, not much has changed).  I was in High School, completely shy, utterly insecure and all together thinking I was the biggest nobody around.  I always felt like I couldn’t make any friends and was just bad at relationships all together. I seemed bad at everything.  Except, one thing.  I was smart enough to become buddies with literally the BIGGEST guy in the School!  Not just my class, the School!  We called him “Big Nate” and his name fit him well.  Big Nate was my bud and he always looked out for me (sounds like a Disney movie I know).

One time I was in the locker room and a kid who loved to pick on me shoved me into the lockers.  I slid off the bench and slammed my head against the metal door. Ouch!  (This may explain why I am the way I am now…) As you can imagine I was a bit shaken up.  I didn’t see this coming at all. It came out of no where, and it hurt… It hurt, bad.  As you can probably gather from me already mentioning “Big Nate” above… who do you think stepped in on my behalf? (*Insert long dramatic ‘thinking’ pause…) Yup, you guessed correctly!  Before I could even look up, Big Nate had this kid in a full on sleeper hold!  As he was putting pressure on him he said these words that I’ll never forget, “Don’t ever mess with David again”! And with those words he put this kid to sleep, LITERALLY!!! He passed out right there on the locker room floor (true story)!

Now, I don’t tell this story to condone putting someone you don’t like in a sleeper hold (though it was pretty cool at the time).  I say it because just like Big Nate had my back, God has got your back! So often we feel like we are all alone in many of the life situations that come along. It’s easy to be discouraged, but don’t be… It’s easy to be afraid, but don’t be. God can put all your issues “to sleep” if you will continue to trust him and pursue a relationship with Him.  He will strengthen you and in the end… though you may be shaken up, you’ll be walking away from the locker room of your situation with a smile on your face. God’s got yo back!