God is Never Further than an Arm’s Length Away

There is a saying, “The more I know, the more I know I don’t know.” This saying bears witness to the truth more and more each year we age, until eventually we realize we never really knew anything. Now, in my fifties, I realize just how little I ever knew when I though I knew it all in my twenties. A very similar experience can be found in our spiritual journey.

The closer we get to God, the further away from Him we realize we are. As we learn more about ourselves and more about God, looking back on our lives we see a great distance between where we want to be and where we are today. We want to be with God, but alas we are not. We think we are, as we thought we were before, but if hindsight is 20/20, then we must humbly admit we are not as close to God as we think.

God is the One who protects us from this knowledge. If we really knew the great distance that lays between us and Him, we may never try to bridge the gap. Think back to swim lessons when you teacher (in my case my dad) stood close to you in the pool calling you to swim to him. He was close and you trusted him, so you left the safety of the wall and began to swim. With each stroke your teacher backed away creating more distance between you and the wall, although he was never more than an arm length away from you. If your teacher had been standing in the middle of the poor, or ‘all the way’ across the pool, you would never have let go of the wall.

Once you reached your teacher, he had you look back and with great joy see how far you had come. Seeing the great distance and realizing your ability to swim further, you were inspired to keep swimming. In the same way, instead of being depressed that you are further from God than you think, look back and realize how far you’ve come. Then, turn around and face God and keep swimming.

God is always just an arm length away in your spiritual journey. If this had not been true, you would have drowned by now, but you are still swimming. As we continue our Great Lenten Journey, I encourage you to look back and realize there are more days behind you than in front of you. Today is ‘Day 24’ and you can see how far you’ve come and be inspired to keep going. Keep fasting. Keep praying. Keep coming to Church. Keep helping others. With each day God will draw you closer to Himself, until you reach Holy Week.

Holy Week isn’t the end of the journey, but it is the end of the lesson. Great Lent and Holy Week are two different journeys in our life separated by the Feast of Palm Sunday, but don’t look that far ahead or you may not keep trying. You may not let go of the wall. Focus on today’s swim lesson, and God will help you get further than you ever imagined you could.

Keep in mind also, that today most Churches will celebrate the Presanctified Liturgy, and you are able to get your breath and strength to make it through the week. With each week, we grow closer and go further along our journey, and God is never further than an arm’s length away.

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