The Lord Is Near

The Lord Is Near

Carolyn

What do you do when you can’t sleep? Sometimes I simply wait it out, eventually falling back to sleep. While I suppose that keeps me in a restful state waiting on sleep to return, I also later feel those were wasted hours! Sometimes then, I’ll get up to read or pray, in hopes it will make me sleepy, so at least I can feel like I was being productive!

Last Saturday night, when I couldn’t sleep, I got up to pray. Three verses came to mind:

“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5-7).

“Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8a).

I don’t remember how I arrived at thinking about those verses and the nearness of the Lord. I think I was praying for friends who had lost a loved one, grieving with them, praying for the nearness of God to their broken hearts. My mind probably then took off on the theme of God’s nearness and where else we find that word in Scripture, those being familiar passages to me.

When I got up later that Sunday morning, I started reading “Preparing for the Lord’s Day,” a weekly post our church puts out to prepare us for worship. In it, it said, “To prepare for worship, spend time reading and meditating on… Psalm 34:15–22, Philippians 4:4–7…, and James 5:13–18.”

Two of those passages contained the verses I had pondered in the night, and the third one was one chapter later, but only a page away in my Bible. The sermon focus was not on the nearness of God, but on how God calls every Christian to pray. But it was interesting to see those three Scriptures again being reinforced.

Yesterday, I was looking up a devotional book at Amazon, glancing quickly at the sample pages. The sample devotional started with, “The Lord is near….” quoting after it those verses from Philippians 4:5-7. This sample devotional page from the book was in the context of anxiety: “if the Lord is near, everything changes. You aren’t alone, and the one who is in control, to order and provide, he’s near and he cares for you and he is involved.” (David Powlison).

Today, I opened my photos to go back and find a photo with a friend from a visit I remembered in 2018, and beside those photos was this random one I had saved 7 years ago, not even remembering it, nor now knowing its source:

What do we make of times where the Lord keeps bringing a repeated message? I’m not sure, but one thing, if nothing else, is simply encouragement. We can be encouraged with the message that comes to us through God’s Word and in prayer. We may or may not see an exact application, but we can remember it and hold on to it.

Who couldn’t be encouraged with the thought that, in all of our circumstances, the Lord is near. He sees you, He knows you, He knows what you are going through, He knows your joys and your sorrows, and He is near. Not distant, but right there with you, drawing near to you when you draw near to Him. The Lord is near; we have no reason to fear!

That’s a message I can go with today! Perhaps it will encourage you too.

“But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”
Psalm 73:28

Rainbows and Promises

Carolyn

Photos from October 2, 2024; July 18, 2025; July 31, 2025

A rainbow (according to an AI overview!) is an “optical and meteorological phenomenon that occurs when sunlight interacts with water droplets, typically rain, in the atmosphere.” I suppose its name “rainbow” suggests that it’s connected with rain, this bow in the sky.

In the Bible, Genesis 6:18 and 9:9-17 are the first mentions of the word “covenant,” directly related to Noah and the flood. This Noahic covenant was between God and Noah and his descendants after him. It was the promise that God would never again flood the earth or cut off all flesh with a flood. The sign of this covenant was a rainbow. God would look on it and remember His everlasting covenant.

The rainbow, then, was directly tied to rain. It appropriately comes in connection with rain, after a storm, as a visible sign of God’s promise and faithfulness to all living beings. And it wasn’t just for Noah and his family in his day; it was a covenant for ALL generations to come and for ALL life on earth. It can serve to remind us that on the other side of life’s storms, there is a sure and certain promise that He who promised is faithful, and we can have hope.

I’ve written before about how God has used rainbows to encourage me. And I’ve included a few rainbows above since that time that the Lord has given me on specific days, at just the right moment where I’ve needed to remember His promises.

In the third photo above, I had just come back from the prayer garden and chapel where I go to pray. Light rain had ended, and my husband said this is the kind of weather where you might see a rainbow. For a moment, in my heart, I confess I thought, “Yeah, but do I make more from this than I should? If there is one, isn’t it just another rainbow?” I walked outside anyway, wishing to see more.

Then my eye caught it, the rainbow in the sky. It was pretty and nice. But then I saw something lower, just over the trees, an incredibly bold and brilliant rainbow! There were two, and the lower one was the deeper one. I had to go to a better spot in my neighborhood to see the lower one a little higher in the sky than I could on my back deck (photo below). The two rainbows together were a picture of His glory, of God once again patiently being willing to show me more, to remind me He can do more than I ask, think, or imagine. He is faithful and worthy of our trust.

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:20

A Hopeful Prayer of Trust

A Hopeful Prayer of Trust

Carolyn

I recently found this prayer in my journal, written at the start of 2024, almost a year and a half ago. With Easter week approaching, these themes encourage my heart as I reflect on who God is and all He has done for us in Christ.

Sovereign LORD, You are all powerful. In the midst of life’s storms, You enter the boat of our lives and calm our anxious hearts and fears. You bring peace and joy even when, especially when, circumstances aren’t what we would wish or hope for. We all live—all humanity—broken, earthbound lives. But You entered into our brokenness and were broken for us. You are the bread of life, the body broken. I believe You are the Victor, the One who saves, the mighty warrior who rejoices over us and tells us everything will be okay. Everything will work out in the end, not because of our worth, but Yours; not because of our works, but Your work, your finished work.

You are the great I am, the faithful, covenantal God who keeps your Word and promises. You are Jehovah Yahweh, full of grace and truth. If the Lord is on our side, who can be against us? You are a miracle worker. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ, in whom we live and move and have our being. We are at best your unprofitable servants, who fail and sin so easily, yet you redeem, forgive, revive, rebuild, restore, renew—You are making all things new!

So I will return again in humility and repentance to seek your face. Your face will I seek in the morning and look up. In the midday and evening, in remembrance, for You do great things, and nothing is too hard for You. Praise You, Lord, and thank You. Apart from You, I can do nothing, and in me dwells no good thing. But You are the God who fills with springs of living water, gives your Spirit, and satisfies our weary souls. You comfort my heart and dry my tears and tell me You save and it will be okay. So I rest in your unfailing love that your beauty might be upon me, even as I TRUST in You.

I don’t have to fear today, because You are with me, to uphold and protect, to walk with and provide. I can leave all my concerns and worries to be safely held in your arms, the arms that spread wide on a cross to tell me of your love that would die for me, your saving right arm, extended and strong, for whom there is no rival and no one and nothing can stand against. You are so good, majestic, powerful, strong, holy, righteous, merciful, just, wise and true. Help me walk in your way with an undivided heart to fear your name, my Lord and my God. Amen.

I’ll close with this new song, “What an Awesome God,” released yesterday from Phil Wickham. I heard Rich Mullins sing the original when I was in college after its release in 1988. Then my husband and I heard Phil Wickham sing this updated version in concert in Greensboro about 3 weeks ago, where he shared he had written three new verses for a new generation. I hear the themes of Revelation and of Easter in the prayer and in the song, as we were made to worship our awesome God. I pray you have a joyous Easter week, celebrating our Risen Savior!

Happy New Year 2025!

Happy New Year 2025!

Carolyn

Looking back, since starting this blog in 2008, I’ve written posts every new year except one. Because I rarely do anything with consistency, it’s surprising to realize this is my 16th record then of new year themes!

I had no plans to write something this year or even choose a “word for the year.” My spirit wasn’t in it this year, and I was going to let it go. However, the Lord gave me a word quite clearly.

My husband and I were watching the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Every time the coach from Boise State was interviewed, he said something about Jesus. Even if it was a brief comment at the start of the fourth quarter when asked about the game, he went back to Jesus.

I commented to my husband, “I wonder what people think of that. Is he connecting Jesus to winning this game, because Jesus loves both teams?” But I started to see that no, he was seeing this game as a platform, a stage for him to make Jesus known and what God has done for their team. He wasn’t going to miss that opportunity. It wasn’t about winning or losing, but proclaiming, even through a sporting event.

After the game, I saw this short video on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1874482556433014834

I realized that that this coach has had a life-changing impact on his players because he’s been unafraid to tell them about Jesus. The point wasn’t whether a national audience understood this coach pointing to Jesus. Surely many wouldn’t get it. But some would. And those were the ones he was speaking to. It made me think about my own witness. Do I care to speak the name of Jesus?

The next day, New Year’s Day, having decided I wasn’t going to do a word for the year, I put my head down on my sofa to take a brief afternoon nap. As I fell asleep, I asked the Lord if He might be willing to speak to me while I slept. I don’t know why. I haven’t prayed that kind of thing in a long while. I woke up to a verse running through my head over and over. It was from Romans 1:16:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (ESV)

Unashamed. Unashamed of the gospel. I started pondering this more.

Another verse that came to mind was 2 Timothy 2:15, one my grandfather wrote in my Bible which was a Christmas gift when I was 7 years old:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (ESV)

As I began to put away our Christmas decorations, I opened a cabinet to store some items. I noticed a new Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest devotional there from a year ago that had been unused and unopened. I pulled it out, and the January 1 entry was about being unashamed. It begins with quoting Philippians 1:20:

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. (NIV)

Chambers writes, “We shall all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus on the point He has asked us to yield to Him.” The devotional encourages our surrender to Christ, describing how He will often bring us to a crisis, a crossroads in our lives, to help us decide to follow Him fully.

So many thoughts started to emerge about being unashamed of the gospel, unashamed of Jesus and His Word, recognizing again as we enter a new year that He is the answer to all our fears and sorrows and brokenness, that He is sufficient for all things. I never want to settle for less than this gospel power. I want to believe Him in all things. And I want to share Him and His Word as one who is unashamed because I do know Him and His power toward all who believe.

This is how I wound up with a word for the year: unashamed. As always, there are many applications we could make, but I want to see how God uses this word in the coming year, I pray for His glory.

Do you have a word for the year or something you are resolving to do in the new year? How is it looking 9 days into January? In this new year, I pray this verse from Romans 15:13 for anyone who might read this:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

All the Days of My Life

Carolyn

Psalm 23 is a passage the Lord keeps bringing me to in this season of life. It’s everywhere. Its truth and beauty have taken on new depth and meaning.

After journaling to capture all the places it was showing up, I went to church, and a soloist sang a beautiful hymn “Shepherd Me, O God” (based on Psalm 23).

It was announced Chuck Swindoll is retiring. I’ll never forget his exposition on Psalm 23 at our senior retreat at Dallas Theological Seminary. What a generous man to invest in us during no doubt a busy time as president of the seminary and having a much broader ministry beyond.

Dallas Seminary Graduation Luncheon 1997 with Chuck and Cynthia Swindoll

There are numerous songs on the radio right now about Psalm 23. I was listening to Leanna Crawford’s Psalm 23, marveling at its timing. As I started an order in the Chick-fil-A curbside parking, I was singing the next song on the radio without even realizing what I was saying. But then I heard what I was singing:

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures. The Lord is my Shepherd, leads me to still waters, and He restores my soul.”

This is the bridge in “Come What May,” a song not primarily about Psalm 23.

You get the idea… it’s been everywhere. It’s an encouragement to pay attention to what the Lord is speaking through His Word as we study the Bible and live our daily lives.

During this time, I woke up one morning with these words being repeated in my mind over and over: “all the days of my life, all the days of my life, all the days of my life.” Over and over. What is that? Well, it should have been obvious to me, but it took me a minute to remember it’s from Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” Okay, so?

Well, I went to do my daily Bible study. I’m doing Bible Study Fellowship International online this year, which has been another amazing blessing meeting women from all over the world! We are studying Revelation. In this lesson about the letter to the church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7), the questions took us back to Genesis 3 to read alongside Rev. 2:7 about the Tree of Life.

As I read about the curse of the serpent and the curse of the ground (note: Adam and Eve were not cursed, though there were consequences to their sin), the LORD God told the serpent “you shall eat dust all the days of your life” (Gen. 3:14). And the LORD told Adam…, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life…. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:17-19).

Contrast that to Psalm 23: “Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life.” Look how God reverses these curses for His people. Rather than being in the dust, “He makes us lie down in green pastures”! “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” What the enemy strives to take, God restores. Picture God’s goodness and lovingkindness following us, closely behind, even chasing us down as our Good Shepherd all the days of our lives!

Once you hear the themes of Psalm 23, you’ll see it everywhere.

My husband and I went to a wedding last weekend where they sang The Goodness of God: “All my life you have been faithful, all my life you have been so, so good… your goodness is running after me.” I could hear the echoes of Psalm 23 as the breeze blew through the beautiful arboretum setting. The pastor came up after the song and also pointed out it included Psalm 23.

Remember John 10:10-11, the passage where Jesus tells us He is the Good Shepherd. There’s the contrast: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd…”

Do you see where Satan tries to destroy and kill, God instead gives life and abundance! He leads us out, He follows us behind. In fact, Galatians 3:13 tells us, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’)” He is the good Shepherd, but He is also the Lamb slain in our place for our sins to give us salvation! What an amazing reversal! What a grand exchange!

Not a day goes by without our Shepherd’s care and presence, His leading and following us, the sheep in need of our saving Shepherd. May His goodness and lovingkindness follow us all the days of our lives, that we may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.