..Tam.Odom..

So tonight I am sitting in the hotel room while up at the SCBC in Columbia. I have been seeking topic suggestions from some of the students who tend to glance at my blog from time to time. So tonight with the circumstances at CSU and being on its THIRD lockdown of the semester…one thing that might seem a little far fetched is that the Lord is near!

Many times I feel like all I can actually offer to people is that I will lift up a prayer to God for them. This is deeply rooted though because many times I sit and try to hear from the Lord, but I wonder if the Lord can even hear me. I don’t always feel like the Lord is near to me. It is easy to think that your prayers and petitions are NOT IMPORTANT to the Lord, but the reality is the complete opposite.

There is nothing too big or too small for the Lord. He tells us in Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” I find comfort in this. Even though we do not realize or feel the Lord is near to us, the Bible tells us (or warns us) to seek Him and call on him NOW because He is already near. He is near before we ever utter His name. Is that not unreal to you? The character of God is revealed to us through our prayer life.

With everything going on in today’s society, it does not take much for someone to quickly throw their hands up and throw in the towel so to speak. We wonder where the Lord is and how He could possibly see a reason to put us through tough and trying times. Where is His provision, right? What if we took into consideration the way that the Lord works, always from his overflow of His holy and perfect character,  then we would not doubt his existence. If we could get past that then we would realize that the Lord is sitting, standing, running very near to us right now and as soon as we call upon Him we receive His presence in our life. When and if we could catch on to the fact that the He is near to us then it would transform our mindset of WHO God is. The main set back and limitation involved is our ability to allow our minds and hearts to DOUBT all because things don’t meet our expectations.

Expectations – that’s a whole other blog entry.

Robbie Seay Band sings a song called Hallelujah, God is Near. I found the lyrics so I posted them below:

God’s resplendent glory full
On display for all to see
God creator, God of hope
Beautiful redeeming Grace
Healer of the broken down
Of the orphans and oppressed

Find Him dining with the poor

Find Him here surrounding