He Will Never Leave

A long time ago I was sitting with a client, talking about what the Lord was doing in his life.  He said that he had seen the Lord holding his hand at a time when he felt like he was going to fall into an abyss of despair.  I asked him what that meant to him and he said “If I fall, he is going with me.”

Psalm 139:8-12 tells me that no matter where I go or how much I try to hide in dark places, God is there with me and he’ll make the darkness light.  Psalm 23:4 says that if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is with me.  Hebrews 13:5 says that he will never leave me or forsake me. 

As I was pondering those verses, I sensed the Holy Spirit reminding me of First Corinthians 6:15-19 and I saw those verses in a new light.  I have always thought that passage was about the perils of fornication but I realized that it is also about the Lord’s closeness to us.  He is saying, “Don’t you realize that I live in you?  No matter what you do (even sex with a prostitute) I am right there.”  I see in this passage that it hurts him to be there, but he stays.

This is a wounding and a healing thought to me.  It hurts me that I bring the Holy One into my sin.  It heals me that he is willing to stay.  While it is true that he is spotlessly holy, he is not far off from me, even in my sin.  Ephesians 2:13 tells me that although I was far off, I was brought near by the blood of Jesus. 

He is near to me when I lie.

He is near to me when I am unkind.

He is near to me when I worry.

He is near to me when I think impure thoughts.

He is near to me in despair.

He is near to me.