But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:13 NLT
I’m no stranger to reaching. At 5’1”, there’s hardly a cupboard or shelf that I’ve met that doesn’t require me to stand on a stool (or get the help of someone taller) to get the item I need. Incredibly, this doesn’t seem to stop me from continuing to try to reach for that item on the shelf—that’s just out my grasp—time and time again.
Sometimes my soul reaches that way too. Does yours? Faced with pain, desperately calling and crying out for healing, peace, relief.
Every one of us has been torn and shredded by life in different ways. Sometimes it can feel like the Lord’s process of putting us back together again and healing all the broken parts is excruciatingly slow. It can leave us with questions about why we feel so far from the Lord.
It might look like a heavy, constant weight that sits just beneath the surface as we go about the day. It might be the feeling that even when we’re praising, there’s an undercurrent of sadness and grief that flows through us.
I know that the Lord can hold all our emotions. I know He loves us through it all. Yet that feeling of feeling far from Him can hurt so much, cause us to question, and make us feel like we’re wading slowly through murky waters. It can make the smallest decisions feel agonizing. It can feel like that desperate whisper. “Lord, where are you?” doesn’t have a clear answer.
No matter how far we might feel from God, the truth is that he has drawn us near because of Jesus. That isn’t a maybe. It isn’t a possibility, It’s his undeniable promise. Paul’s letter shows how powerful God is:
12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. 14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.”
Ephesians 2:12-14 NLT
In Paul’s Letter, God tells us that He is already near to us, in this moment, in this very breath, because of the blood of Jesus Christ. It’s nothing we have to strive for or achieve.
This beautiful reminder means we can cast off the lies from the enemy that we aren’t enough, that we need to work harder to get closer to Christ. They’re the reflection of the truth of God’s word that we are already united, already brought near, that he’s broken the walls and given hope.
Reconciling this truth within our hearts isn’t easy. I find myself sitting in this space so often—feeling like I’m desperately reaching for a way to get closer to the Lord that is always just out of reach.
But there wasn’t any reaching required to begin with.
We don’t even have to get out the stool or step ladder. We just have to accept God’s invitation to lean in because he already gave us the access to Christ we need.
Acts 17:28 says, “For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” (NIV). What freedom to know that we not only have access to Christ, but that “we live and move and have our being” in Him.
We don’t have to reach. We don’t have to strive. God promises He’s near to us and he promises a hope we can count on. We can live and move and be in beautiful freedom in Jesus Christ.
Create Space for Grace
Soak in God’s word. Let it wash over you. Create space to be with God in this moment. Breathe, pray, and consider a step he’s inviting you to take with him.
Breathe
Breathe in: Jesus, you are here.
Breathe out: We live and move in you.
Pray
Father God,
I praise you for your promises that we don’t have to spend all of our efforts reaching for you. You are already here with the gift of your salvation, mercy, grace, and infinite love through the blood of your Son. Help me to trust in your promises and believe that you are already near to me. Please help me to hold space for the things I feel and process them with you while still holding to your promises and moving forward in faith.
In Jesus’ Precious Name,
Amen
Take a Step With Jesus
Acknowledge that God is near to us regardless of how we feel. Ask him to meet you in this moment. How can you live and move differently in him in your next moments?