A Worshipful Woman will Draw Near
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith… Hebrews 10:22
A worshipful woman will draw near.
The God we worship is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is holy and majestic, ‘high and lifted up’ (Isaiah 6:1), and ‘the whole earth is full of His glory’ (Isaiah 6:3). He is deserving of our deepest reverence and worthy of our highest praise. But the awesomeness of God does not make Him distant or remote. The God who seeks our worship is eminently approachable and makes Himself available to us everywhere, all the time!
The God we worship tells us to draw near. When we do, we discover that He is waiting for us. He doesn’t shut Himself up in His throne room, leaving His staff to run interference for Him. He doesn’t surround Himself with bodyguards and hire spokespeople to relay His messages. No, He grants complete access to His throne of grace and tells us to come boldly to Him to find what we need.
Remember the story of the prodigal son? The Bible says that when the son was yet a great way off, his father saw him… (Luke 15:20). How did the father see him when he was still far away? He was watching for him – probably had been since the day the boy left home! The father cared so much about restoring their relationship that he waited, day after day, watching for his child to return. And that’s just the way the Heavenly Father is with us. There is nothing He wants more than to welcome us into His presence and spend time building, or rebuilding, a relationship with us.
But all kinds of things in life make this very hard for us to understand. For one thing, we too often make the mistake of projecting our human tendencies onto God. We may want to draw near and develop a close, personal relationship with God. But then we think, God has probably had it with me. He must be completely annoyed with my faithlessness. Maybe I can think about drawing near when I get my act together. We think like that because we act like that. We get annoyed with people who don’t measure up, give up on people who struggle to get it right. But God is not like us! He is not annoyed with us, will not give up on us. He will not give us the cold shoulder and does not require us to prove our worth before we can draw near. He just wants us to come to Him, right now, as we are, no matter how messy or off-track our lives may be. He is the God of second, third – however many – chances and only wants to show us grace. Over and over again, the Bible reassures us of God’s patience with His children.
…but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness… Nehemiah 9:17
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. Psalm 103:8
The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. Psalm 145:8
…turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness… Joel 2:13
The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth… Exodus 34:6
The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression… Numbers 14:18
For his merciful kindness is great toward us… Psalm 117:2
This is the God of the Bible. This is the God Who created us to worship Him. This is the God who invites us to draw near.
So if worship is what we were created for, if God is intensely interested in relating to us, why is becoming a worshipful woman so hard? Why isn’t worship automatic, like breathing? Or easy, like falling off a log? In eternity, it will be! But in the meantime, worship is hindered by Satan’s dogged opposition and our own sinful natures.
Since before time began, Satan has coveted and tried to steal the worship that belongs to God. The moment we resolve to become worshipful women is the moment he determines to keep us from it. Our every attempt to draw near will be met with Satan’s best efforts to keep us far away. He makes us sleepy. He creates interruptions. He distracts our thinking. He will do everything He can to discourage us.
But no matter how powerful Satan may be – and he is powerful; it’s a mistake to underestimate him – he’s no match for the God we worship. When we resolve to draw near, and the devil fights us tooth and nail, we have to fortify ourselves with the truth of Scripture.
…greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. I John 4:4
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty… Psalm 24:8
For Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy… Psalm 61:3
In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and His children shall have a place of refuge. Proverbs 14:26
…there is none beside Thee: neither is there any rock like our God. I Samuel 2:2
James 4:8 reads, Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you… God responds to every sincere attempt we make to draw near to Him by drawing nearer to us! And the closer He gets, the more difficult it becomes for Satan to trouble us. The Bible promises that when we resist the devil, he will flee (James 4:7). We resist Satan most effectively when we answer God’s invitation to draw near.
Satan’s power is real, but we can’t blame all our struggles to become worshipful women on him. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. Our own sinful natures are just as addicted to worship as Satan is. Left to ourselves, we want to sit on the throne of our lives. We want to get the glory. We want to be the center of our little worlds. We want our needs to be met, our desires to be satisfied, our dreams to come true. And we will put all our energy into making that happen.
The struggle to become a worshipful woman exists because we naturally want to worship ourselves. But as new creations in Christ, we know our worship belongs to God. Our old selves always trying to reclaim first place, but our new selves, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will always be willing to relinquish first place to God. This conflict will rage as long as we live on this earth. This side of heaven, we will not win the war. But we will consistently win the daily battles as we surrender our own agendas, occupy our hearts and minds with God Himself, and discover Him waiting for us when we draw near.
Wanda Mitchell was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and she came to the States to attend Maranatha Baptist University (MBBC then!). Wanda graduated with degree in elementary education. She has since been employed at Heritage Hall Christian School and Grace Baptist Church, Muncie, where she taught for 10 years and has been in elementary administration for 25 years.Wanda enjoys teaching an adult women’s Sunday school class, as well as women’s Bible studies and elective classesHer life’s motivation is I Samuel 12:24, Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart, for consider what great things He hath done for you.
