Proximity
Our five-year-old was watching a cartoon the other day and the characters kept repeating the word proximity. I don’t like giving her my abridged versions of what words mean so naturally, I scurried over to Google to get an official definition so I would look like the smart one when she asked me what the word meant. She never asked. But at least now I am in proximity to a good dictionary definition of the word.
We all tend to get a case of the “why me’s” every now and then, Asaph was no exception. As he wrote Psalm 73, he wondered, why me? Better yet, why them? Why do the wicked seem to prosper? “Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart,” he writes, “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Ps. 73:1-3). Here, Asaph reflects on the unfairness of life, the old, “Why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people?” Asaph grappled with how the wicked defy God and still manage to live in peace. They are rich, he is poor. They are healthy, he is sick. All goes well for them, and his life basically sucks. Asaph wants to know, “What is the point of doing good” (3-15).
As he struggled to understand, Asaph went to church (16-17). There, he spent time with God and the nearer he drew to the LORD, the more he regretted his foolish complaints. His thoughts seemed ignorant, his words idol, so, he apologized to God for his grumblings (21-22). He had lost focus. When he looked at the things of the world his situation did seem grim, indeed life appeared to be unfair, but all it took was proximity to the Most High for him to wake up and refocus. “It is good for me to draw near to God,” he says (28). Time with God changed Asaph’s perspective. All of a sudden, the prosperity of the wicked did not seem so great. He realized that their separation from God meant that all those good things in their lives, were not really blessings, being near to God was the blessing.
It is easy to get distracted in this world. Many things try to separate us from God. These distractors do not have to be bad, there are plenty of good things that take our time and energy and leave us with very little to give to the LORD. But even when we get distracted and lose focus, we can always turn back to God.
There is a hymn that I love, written by Helen Lemmel, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus,” she writes, “Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” When you have Christ in your sights, who cares what is going on with others, what they have, what they do, and what they get away with. Asaph knew that God was good, he started the Psalm off by saying so, but he decided to throw his own pity party anyway. You have to love this guy because he is humble and transparent. Asaph freely admits to feeling sorry for himself, to comparing himself with others. This is something that we are all guilty of but most of us would be too ashamed to admit. Nevertheless, Asaph responds to these feelings, which he knows the LORD did not give him, by turning to God.
“It is good for me to draw near to God.” Asaph knew what was good for him and it was not sitting around comparing his life to others. Once he got in proximity with God, he realized that the blessing was not prosperity or good health, the blessing was being near God. Whether he was prosperous or in the poor house, in good health or on his sick bed, the blessing was being in relationship with God.
We don’t have to envy others who seem to have blessings, neither do we have to sit and wait on God’s blessings, He is the blessing! Don't allow anything, good or bad, to take your attention away from God! Get in His Word daily, pray continually, and fast often. Your proximity to God will determine how you see everything so, keep your mind stayed on Him and He will keep you in perfect peace, regardless of the situation (Isa. 26:3).
Do you know why it is good for man to draw near to God? Because when you draw near to God, He will draw near to you (James 4:8).
