Drawing Near to the Father

Rachel Osborn Wrote:
Over the past couple of months, I have often heard the leadership at Fellowship say “we won’t know what Draw Near will look like or how God will use this.” One applicable example that really resonated the Draw Near process was through an experience with my daughter, Greenlee, this past week. She is two and had woken up in the middle of the night screaming for me (her mom). I went to her room, refilled her sippy cup, took her to the bathroom, found her a baby doll, etc. but the crying worsened and she wanted me to take her to my bed. I sat with her on her bed hoping that it would help suffice her screams to come to “mommy’s bed,” but after a few minutes I went ahead and drew her close to me and sat holding her in my arms.

It was in drawing her close to me that her screaming stopped instantly. She looked up at me, said “I love you, mommy” and within moments, she was back to sleep. I sat there holding her in my arms for several moments and spent some time praying over her little life. This simple expression unveiled so much to me. It made me realize that I am much like my two year old in my own walk with the Lord. Many of us seek to fill our needs with objects -- houses, cars, clothing, or in my daughter’s case, I tried giving her a doll or a sippy cup. However, all my daughter wanted was to draw near to me, and when I drew near to her, she rested in my arms.

When we can submit to our Father like this and desire to draw near to Him, His promise is to meet us in return. Just like the leadership of Fellowship is unsure what Draw Near will look like, so am I. However, this small experience gave me renewed hope in His promise of James 4. If we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. And how much greater will drawing near to our eternal Father be than any earthly mother/father whom we have.