Whom have I in heaven [but You]? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the rock and strength of my heart and my portion forever. But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God; I have made the Lord God my refuge and placed my trust in Him. Psalms 73: 25-28

Can you relate to these verses today, friend? Do you feel like your flesh and heart may fail? Like you just can’t deal with one more thing? Feeling like life deals you one bad hand after another? 

Or maybe you just haven’t gotten over the stress and disappointment of 2020 yet. I get it! Wherever you are this morning, I believe this passage holds a key to experiencing God’s goodness no matter what’s happening in your world. 

I love where it says, the nearness of God is my good. I mean, what a succinct understatement. Sometimes, especially if we are feeling overwhelmed or exhausted or losing hope, just being near to God makes everything ok. Ok, pretty much every time. 

The challenge comes when, for some reason, we don’t believe we can be near to God…or that he is no longer near to us. We get distracted or discouraged and then begin to think we don’t deserve to be near to him, or that he is disappointed with us and has shifted his focus away. 

But friends, we know that’s just not true, don’t we? 

God is as near today as he was on the day you felt closest to him, whenever that was. That moment when you experienced his intimate embrace and knew he was with you. That time when you could hear his voice clearly. He’s just as close right now. Nothing we do, think or feel changes the nearness of God. It’s only our awareness that changes. 

So to experience his nearness today…that nearness that is our good…we just have to stop, pause and shift our focus back onto him. Perhaps reading these verses outloud, as a prayer, will help you redirect your heart and mind back where it belongs. 

And you will discover, that not only is he still near, he is still good. He is still enough. And he still loves you more than you can even imagine! 

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash