How to Get Far from God

Psalm 138:6 Though the Lord is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar.

We all know that God is both far above and within, simultaneously. We understand that He is above the highest and yet is with us at our lowest moments. I am glad for this because it speaks of His greatness and His compassion. He is both God Almighty and my Personal Savior. I should always focus on reaching Him from within. When I try to reach Him on His level or try to aspire to touch Him in the heavens is when I risk in that proud attempt being farther away from Him than when I started. This verse in Psalm 138 infers that it could be pride that creates that distance. Of course it does.

Pride goes before the fall. Pride also fosters the position of superiority and tempts us to think more highly of ourselves than we should. It is He who is above all and on high and came down, not me who rises up. He arose, He descended, that was His place and role and mine is to simply know Him from within. Sometimes we can try too hard to reach God.

God will distance Himself from our proud attempts. As the old saying goes, and I repeat.... 'If you are not as close to God as you used to be then guess who moved?' It is us who creates distance from God. He can't be intimate or close to us when we don't let Him. Our pride is a false notion that separates us from His presence. If we want to keep proximity we must practice humility.

I know that my pride leads to anger, bitterness and un-forgiveness. These possibilities in me are what keep me from the closeness I desire. God cannot cohabit when I am proud, especially when that pride makes me angry, bitter and unforgiving. Like a dog with a bone, I can be with a 'high and mighty attitude' about an issue or matter that I refuse to let go of or relent about. These things particularly need to be given to God, so I don't try to Lord it over anybody.

We should many more times in life, compromise reach consensus or agreement rather than demand our way. Who do we think we are anyway? By the way, the answer to that rhetorical question is... God. We do such a lousy job of being God too. So next time you or I get way up there and all spiritual and all-knowing and all-powerful and try to be everywhere at once and have it all under control, let us quickly remember who we are and who we are not.

Whenever I try to be God, I end up farther away from Him. Not what I planned to happen. So today I will step back and step down and connect with Him from within and draw closer to Him and what He wants and what should happen. Good counsel for us all. Draw near to Him now.

In His Presence, Pastor Fred

Tweet