want to be with you

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:1-4).

These words, spoken by Jesus, I have read countless times. But today I saw them and understood them in a different light. And it spoke exactly into a deep issue in my heart right now.

The title in my Bible above the passage is “Jesus Comforts His Disciples.” How does He choose to comfort them? By expressing to them His deep desire to be with them, to take them to the place where He is going. He comforts and quiets their hearts by simply saying, “I want to be with you so bad that I am going to go to the utmost extent to make sure you can be with Me forever. I am going to go away and leave you so that I can prepare the place for you, but also because My going away, My death and resurrection, is what makes a way for you. I WANT TO BE WITH YOU. TRUST ME. TRUST THAT I WANT TO BE WITH YOU.”

God constantly wants to be with us, actually in His omnipresence He is always is with us. Yet, the thing is we aren’t always with Him are we? There is many a time when we are distant from God for a variety of reasons. That distance, that lack of fellowship puts a strain in our relationship with our Lord and spills over into many aspects of our lives. Yet, even when that distance is there, even when we are the ones who create it by not making the time to fellowship with Jesus, God is still desperately wanting us to be with Him, because He will stop at nothing to be with us. He chooses to love us despite the distance we/circumstances create between us and Him. He pursues us even when we are not pursuing Him.

There’s a distance in my relationships. Life has caused a strain, a lack of fellowship which has left me fighting the lie that I’m going to be left, alone. My heart, is troubled, and it troubles me that it is troubled. I want so much to be wanted. I want so much to hear the words “I want to be with you,” but more than that, I want them to actually be with me, and I want to be with them. It feels stagnant. Yet, I have learned that it is in this moment where I must choose to love despite the distance. Even when  I’m not being intentionally pursued I must keep pursuing. Because this earthly relationship reveals a glimpse that that’s what Jesus does for me…I create the distance, but He still says calls out “come be with Me!” Not that He needs me, but wants me.

I need Jesus to help me believe that Jesus wants to be with me. I need Jesus to help me believe that He is all I need, even when others can’t/don’t want to be with me. 

Tonight I chatted with a friend about the song “Without You.” This song pretty much equates life to a person. Without that person, nothing is the same. She asked “what if we viewed this song as singing it to Jesus? What if we lived as though these words were true with our relationship with Him? What if we not only knew but lived like we were nothing without Him?”

I can't win, I can't reign
I will never win this game
Without you, without you
I am lost, I am vain,
I will never be the same
Without you, without you

I won't run, I won't fly
I will never make it by
Without you, without you
I can't rest, I can't fight
All I need is you and I,
Without you, without you

Oh oh oh!
You! You! You!
Without...
You! You! You!
Without... you

Can't erase, so I'll take blame
But I can't accept that we're estranged
Without you, without you
I can't quit now, this can't be right
I can't take one more sleepless night  (what if you  lived your life as if you couldn’t sleep if you hadn’t talked to Jesus that day?)
Without you, without you

I won't soar, I won't climb
If you're not here, I'm paralyzed
Without you, without you
I can't look, I'm so blind
I lost my heart, I lost my mind
Without you, without you

Oh oh oh!
You! You! You!
Without...
You! You! You!
Without... you

I am lost, I am vain,
I will never be the same
Without you, without you
Without... you