Intimacy with God

UV 1113/10,000 What Intimacy with God does

Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.


Lamentations 3 v 57

The Lord draws near only when we call to Him out of a deep need and a deep faith, on a particular day and at a specific time and situation in our lives. He draws near to us, regardless of who we are and what we have done this far, if we call in truth. We should not be double-minded. We cannot half believe in His Word and half believe in what the world teaches us just as it is impossible to be in half- light and half-darkness. We must either embrace totally the darkness, the untruth as truth, or totally embrace the light, the truth, the goodness and grace of God. We cannot keep one hand for the Lord and one hand to embrace the world and its ways. We should keep our hands clean before He can hold our hands. Once He holds our hand in His, not only does He hold our hands but all of our lives, our every organ, our every relationship and our every thought, desire, goal and activity.


When the Lord draws near to us, our own issues and challenges appear to be diminish in size and significance even as the morning sun drives away the mist by its sheer light. He sets us free from our own fears and inhibitions. The word “fear”, someone said, means “false evidence appearing real”. Science for instance presents the evidence of evolution. But we should not believe such false evidence that speaks against our faith that we live in a God-created and sustained universe. Our minds will also throw up thoughts that appear to be real, our problems and challenges will appear as impossible for anyone to solve including God. It feeds our sense of insecurity and leads us into desperation and prolonged desperation leads to depression. We need to deny such false evidence and doubts and stay close to the Lord, trusting Him for providence, protection,preservation, promotion and pro-vision.

When we experience intimacy with God, the fears that stymie our vision and affect the quality and impact of our lives are effectively dealt a death blow. Some of these fears are the fear of death, the fear of punishment for sin, the fear of success, the fear of failure, the fear of losses, the fear of disease, the fear of aging, the fear of powerful enemies, the fear of threats and insults, the fear of rejection.. The spirit the Lord has given us is not one of fear but of love, hope and self control. The spirit gives us hard evidence of the reality of God’s promises and truths, not all at one shot but enough manna for the day in every way.


Prateep V Philip