All Christians aspire to be close to God. But there are times when His presence just seems far off, and so people become fearful and disillusioned.
Chris Cruz of Jesus Culture, a Christian youth outreach ministry, relates to this feeling. There would be times when he feels undeniably close to God, but then a week or month would go by without him experiencing that miraculous moment again.
"The gap of experience pushed me into living as if God was far off until I had another experience. It was frustrating because I wanted to be near Him more than anything. I examined my life like a detective searching for clues that once led to my experiences with God. I would try to connect the dots so I could do it again," he wrote in the ministry's website.
Cruz said he began doubting how close God really is to him, and that wasn't right. When he read the book of Luke, he came across the part where Jesus' disciples were walking with Him after He rose from the dead. They were walking and talking to Him, but Jesus' disciples did not discern it was actually Him.
"This messed with me because I thought if I am that close to Jesus, I would be on the floor in tears or something uncontrollable. It continues and Jesus then breaks bread with them, and it says 'their eyes were opened.' In one moment they realised it was Jesus with them and they said 'did our hearts not burn within us?'" he said.
This led Cruz to the answer that God is always with His people. "He is with me," he concluded. "It's not because I am perfect and have found the formula for being near. It's because Jesus has torn down any wall of separation and given us complete access to our Father. There's always a way to connect with Him. Our Father is not far off–Jesus has brought us near to Him."
And while Cruz cherishes "radical encounters" with God, he never again thought that God is far away because he would be reminded of Jesus' sacrifice.
