“I just need to be close to you right now.”

How many times do we run away and say, “I need to hide,” when we are scared?

Look at Adam and Eve as just one example—they made the wrong decision, ate from the tree of life, and hid when they heard the Lord in the Garden of Eden.

We live in a world that says “Hide, they’ll find out you’re scared!” or “Hide, they’ll know you did something wrong!”

Whether we are hiding out of fear or out of guilt, we can read in the Bible that God doesn’t want us to hide from Him for any reason.

I don’t know if you’re the kind of person who hides when you’re overwhelmed or sad, but God doesn’t want that for you.

The Lord wants to be the one you run to for comfort, wisdom, and safety.

All throughout the book of Psalms we can read the psalmists referencing God as a strong tower, a fortress in times of need and often in times of war.

‘Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.’
Psalms 61:1-4 NIV

The world is a messy place. Our hearts are messy hearts. And emotions are messy tangled knots.

But God is not afraid of our humanity—rather, He wants us to come to Him with this humanity so that He can show us how to invite His holiness into our human lives.

Friend, the Lord is not afraid of your struggles and pains. He wants you to say, “I just need to be close to you right now,” when you’re sad, scared, and lonely.

Now that July 4th has come and gone, summer is officially upon us. Summer, while it is often a time of joy and freedom from school and school-year obligations, can often also feel like a burden. There’s a lot of expectations we want to make happen and goals and dreams we want to come true.

But this summer, I encourage you to sit and lean into the Lord’s presence: tell Him “I just want to be with you.”

With all the free time I’m sure a lot of us have now, I imagine that spending time (thirty minutes a day?) with the Lord is something much needed, especially with the ‘hot girl summer’ (and whatever the guy-equivalent version of that is) culture we live in.

God doesn’t want you to spend the summer running away from Him—He is a kind Father who wants to be close to you.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this was encouraging. Have a great Sunday and happy late Fourth of July!
~Willow