“You aren’t cut out for this 100 day pursuit. You aren’t holy enough. This is for spiritual people. You don’t have what it takes. You are too dirty to come near to God. Who are you kidding? Don’t even bother trying because you are definitely going to fail.”
Have you heard thoughts like this in your head? This is the voice of discouragement that comes when we decide to get more serious about drawing near to God. The voice could be Satan himself (yes, he can somehow get his sinister messages into our minds). Or it could just be our own ability—without any help from the Devil—to drum up feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. We all know that if we let them, these voices will reduce us to nothing. They will “clip our wings”, as they say, and will prevent us from drawing near to God.
Have you ever had to go talk to someone, maybe a teacher or coach, that you knew was really upset with you? Some of us have had more experience with this than others—I have had plenty of experience! It’s not fun at all. There’s a sense of dread. In high school, for example, I’d be called down to the vice principal’s office for one of my shenanigans. The vice principal was one of those harsh authoritarians who seemed to take a special delight in berating guilty punks like me. I could feel my stomach doing cartwheels as I headed to face the towering giant of a man with a booming voice. At that moment I would have rather gone to the dentist for a root canal. Even when I was in the office and he was speaking to me I would have a strong propensity to not want to look in his eyes. There was nothing desirable at all about these exchanges, and I couldn’t wait to get out of there!
The Accuser
Can you see why the greatest weapon of the enemy of our souls is shame, accusation and condemnation? He loves to heap these on like a lead blanket as we are heading up the Mountain. Sometimes he’ll stir people in our lives to be his mouthpiece for this evil work. Notice how the book of Revelation describes Satan:
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God."
—Revelation 12:10
Satan is a liar, and Jesus told us he comes to steal, kill and destroy. He absolutely hates us and hates when we get serious about getting close to God. Thankfully, Scripture says we don’t need to be unaware of his schemes.
Beloved Children
I think pretty much every religion in the world teaches that if you do the right things, make the right sacrifices or are devoted enough, then God or the gods or the universe will compensate you. So people pathetically strive to appease the object of their worship but never know for sure if they are succeeding. This is the exact opposite of how the Christian faith works!
The Christian faith teaches no one is good. Not one. No one qualifies to draw near to God. Everyone has sinned. But God Himself came down and became a man to give His life as payment for our sin. That’s what grace is all about. The Lord extends the free gift of salvation to all who will receive Him. We can’t buy it; we can’t earn it; we can’t bargain to obtain it—it’s free! When we place our trust in Christ He washes away our sin and removes guilt and shame. That’s why Scripture teaches, “There is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8).
This is so important to understand in order to have a close relationship with God. If you are looking inside of yourself to find some shred of goodness to merit an audience with the King of Glory, you won’t find it. He is totally “other” than us. He is holy, and we are not. We are flawed to the core, and He is light in whom there is no darkness at all (1 John 1).
The basis by which we can approach God is the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ alone. When we trust Christ and receive His grace we are forgiven. And forgiven means forgiven! As in, He casts our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He sends our sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). He doesn’t count our sins against us (2 Cor 5:19). Do you get this? He wipes them away. All of them—past, present, future—He will remember them no more (Heb 8:12). Do you realize what this means?
It means we can march up to the very God of the universe whom Scripture says, “dwells in unapproachable light” and cry “Abba! Father!” We are His children. We have been adopted. We are invited to the King’s table. We are the object of His affection. We are “a people for his own possession” (1 Pet 2:9). We are loved by God!
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
—1 John 3:1
The way we relate to God is similar to human relationships. If we buy into the lies that God is holding our sins against us and wants to punish us, then we will dread coming to Him. Or if we do come we feel ashamed and can’t even look into His face. When our perception of God is this way the honest truth is that we completely avoid praying to Him. We would rather do just about anything.
But when we begin to understand His great love for us and how He longs to be gracious, then we are drawn. Do you see how that is true? When we come to grips with the fact that He took all our sins on His own back so we could be reconciled to Himself, we are melted. When we begin to see His face is not the face of an angry judge but rather a compassionate father, we are moved to run into His arms. Listen to this promise from the book of Hebrews:
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
—Hebrews 4:16
Another version (NIV) says, “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in our time of need.” What is the time of need? Well, it definitely includes the times of weakness and struggle and sin and failure. It includes the times we miss the mark. They are the times when the Devil is accusing us and heaping shame on us. Oh my friend, you can come boldly to God! Christ is our Advocate (1 John 2). God is for us and not against us (Rom 8). You are His beloved child! Even in your worst moments He welcomes you to draw near!
God’s love for us
The whole message of the Bible is that God so loved us that He sent His Son to die for us. Christ came not to condemn but to save (John 3:17). Yes, we were condemned sinners when we once refused to turn to Him and receive His gift of salvation. Yes, God opposes the proud. But listen brother, listen sister, if you have placed your trust in Christ then you are a child of God. He’s on your side!
When I was about 8 years old I lived in a neighborhood in Enfield, Connecticut. I was one of the smaller kids, and in the 70’s that wasn’t good because you were easy prey for the bullies. Well, some older and much bigger kids were picking on me so badly that I finally told my dad. Some time later these kids were playing near our house and I think maybe their ball came into our yard (can’t quite remember). All I remember is my dad going up to the group of tough guys and giving him a piece of his mind on my behalf. My dad was still in his twenties and was huge and fearless. I remember listening shyly from a distance and wanting to scream out to the bullies, “Yeah! Take that! Now what are ya gonna do?”
God is kind of like that when the enemy of our soul is bullying us. Don’t let any devil or any person or any voice in your head tell you that God’s arms are not wide open. Oh he disciplines us at times—just like my dad disciplined me at times—but he will always stand behind those who love Him. One last verse:
Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.
—Psalm 91:14-16