awayout | Robin L. Seaton

God, Come Close and Meet Me Here!

by Robin Seaton | Jan 3, 2026 | If There’s a God, What’s He Like?, Is There Relief for the Pain?, Places for Hope and Healing Resources, What Does a Relationship With God Look Like?, Where’s the Evidence?

Have you ever wondered if God hears your cries and wants to come close to offer you comfort and hope in your need? He does.

My cries for God to come close and comfort my friends in their loss

In the last three weeks I have cried out to God to come down and meet dear friends as they face the grief of losing their daughter and sister to cancer. My husband now prays God to come down close on behalf of a dear friend who’s brother lost his final battle with cancer. I often cry out for God to come close, and have often experienced his reply by drawing near to me in my pain.

I found this song a few weeks ago, It gives words to my pain and cries for God to come close and meet me here. (Emmanuel, also spelled Immanuel, is a Hebrew word used in both the Old and New Testaments describing Jesus as ‘God with us’.)

Do you need God to come close and meet you in your pain?

Maybe your struggle isn’t the pain of death. Maybe your cry is because of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Maybe it’s anxiety or depression, or thoughts of suicide. Maybe it’s an addiction that dulls the pain caused by an unfaithful partner, or shame and guilt that won’t go away. Whatever has caused your pain, you need to know that God isn’t far away and that he longs to come close and meet you in your space.

God is fully aware that our rebellion against him altered our view of him and destroyed our union with him. Jesus came so we could experience God’s true character through his life, and then through his death and resurrection make a way to restore our union with God. Our sin (rebellion against God) separated us from him. Jesus’ death paid the legal debt we owed a holy God because of our rebellion. God’s heart has always been restoration and reconciliation. His desire has always been to dwell with us.

I have experienced his nearness and his comfort as my first husband and I raised our adopted son with non-verbal autism. I experienced God’s gentle care through the death of my husband. I’ve felt his presence through church hurt. He’s met me in very personal ways when going through deep rejection. I’ve felt his nearness and peace while my body rebelled against a tumor inflicting much physical anguish several years ago.

God’s heart to come close to you

In his first sermon, Jesus explained why he came:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.

Luke 4:18-19 NLT

This Old Testament prophesy described what Emmanuel would be like, so we would recognize him among all the others proclaiming the ability to rescue us:

He will not shout
or raise his voice in public.
He will not crush the weakest reed
or put out a flickering candle.
He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.
He will not falter or lose heart
until justice prevails throughout the earth.
Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction.

Isaiah 42:2-4 NLT

This is Emmanuel’s invitation to you:

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

This is Emmanuel’s promise to express fully the heart of the Father:

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

John 14:9 NLT

Don’t delay in crying out to experience the Father’s heart of love and compassion toward you. If, like me, you have experienced the pain of church hurt, don’t assume those who hurt you represent the Father as Jesus proclaimed he would do. People fail. Jesus never fails. Accept his invitation today to come near.

May I pray for Jesus to come close to you?

Dear Lord Jesus, come near to this one today who desperately needs your attention. May they feel your peace and comfort, and may they see your glory and experience your love. In your name, amen.

Am I Listening to the Right Voices?

by Robin Seaton | Jun 13, 2025 | Is There Relief for the Pain?, Places for Hope and Healing Resources, What Does a Relationship With God Look Like?

I’m learning the hard way that listening for the approval of people while listening to the accusations in my head is maddening!

Am I listening for the approval of others?

I’ve been a people pleaser my whole life, listening and hoping for their approval. I’m the one who notices every facial expression, and every look. I’ve been the one who wonders if the person who just walked into the room is disgruntled because of something I may have done to displease them. I’ve been this way my whole life, and I’m beginning to realize it has become like a python wringing the life out of me.

I know I’m not alone. About a year ago I had a conversation with someone who exclaimed, “All girls want is to control you.” I expressed that I too was a girl and didn’t have such designs for him. I then stated that I knew plenty of “girls” who didn’t have that as their number one goal in life. I suggested that maybe his ideas about “all girls” only indicated who he was listening to, who he hung around, and the kind of music and social media presence he chose to listen to.

Am I listening to voices that drag me down?

Unrealistic social media clips that scream that everyone else’s life is far better than mine
People who act as though my only worth is in meeting their excessive expectations and increasing demands
Those in life who ascribe worth based solely upon my sexual performance
Bosses who demand more and more despite excessive workload and extreme overtime
The inner voices of the past who proclaimed I’m worthless
The religion that exclaims my value comes by checking off the religious “to-do” list
The inner coach who proclaims I will never be good enough, never be successful enough, because nothing I do is ever enough
That online bully who won’t go away
The daily newsclips that makes me depressed, anxious, and fearful
The experiences of the past that say that it’s too late, too horrible, too evil

I’ve found a voice worth listening to

The only voice I’ve found powerful enough to quiet the other voices is the voice of my heavenly Daddy. In the last few weeks, I’m learning how to better listen to his voice and silence the others. I no longer feel crazy inside.

I was recently recommended an app that has greatly impacted who I listen to. Late last week, I was given an exercise using Psalm 23. I was asked to use the phrases and sentences in the Psalm to search for Jesus’ heart for me as I shared my heart with him.

As you read, please be honest with God. Modify the prayer to fit you.

An invitation to silence all the other voices and be heard by the God who listens

An exercise in honestly listening and being listened to using Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, he provides for every need so I don’t lack anything.

God, I’m not yet certain I need a shepherd. I have so many questions about you. But I do know I lack a whole lot of things like peace, hope, joy, and a sense of being loved and valued for who I am. I’ve listened to a whole lot of people and can’t seem to find any of these things, at least not in a way that lasts very long. If you are listening, would you please show me who you are, and why you value me? Would you show me how to have your peace? Would you give me hope?

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet streams, he restores my soul.

Life is chaotic. The accusing and competing voices I’ve been listening to are too loud. I need safe spaces and quietness inside. I need peace and calm in my soul. If you are listening, would you please quiet the other voices so I can hear yours?

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

No matter what I do, I never feel like I please anyone, let alone you. The accusing voices are driving me mad. Yet your word says that Jesus did everything right on my behalf and that he paid for my rebellion so I can be made right with you. If you are able to redeem me from the accusing voices I’ve listened to, would you please?

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me.

Life is hard and I’ve been through a lot of horrible stuff. God, did you see it all? Did you care about it all? If you did, would you show me where you were when I faced all this? Would you reveal your love and heart to me in the face of all I’ve been through? Please. I need your comfort. I need to see you are truly able and powerful to take care of all I face in life. I’m listening. I also need to know if you are listening as well.

You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows.

I have plenty of enemies, and to be honest they are overwhelming and beyond my capability to protect myself. If you can pull off offering me a feast as they look on, unable to do anything about it, I’m ready. I’m famished and so thirsty for something in life worth living for. I need your healing ointment. I’m so tired.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in God’s house forever.

Are you claiming that f I allow you to shepherd me, that goodness and kindness will follow me the rest of my life? There isn’t much goodness or kindness left in the world I live in. I’m not even sure I know what goodness or kindness feel like. If that is true, then please show me your kindness. Show me your goodness.

You also offer me the opportunity to live in your house forever? I’ve never felt like I belong anywhere; so, if you, the God of heaven, are offering me a safe place in your peaceful home forever, it’s beyond anything I can fathom. I long to follow a shepherd who can grant such magnificent promises. Reveal yourself to me. Reveal the reality of your promises to me, please.

An invitation to explore a relationship

Throughout the Bible God has used the picture of sheep and a shepherd because the people of the day were shepherds and farmers. They understood the beautiful relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. They could pick out a good shepherd from the bad ones by how well the shepherd cared for his sheep. They also understood how vulnerable sheep were, how defenseless they were without a good shepherd. We too are defenseless on our own against the evil we face in the world. Jesus offers to be a good shepherd to you. The invitation is yours, the choice is also yours. If you wish to converse with him about it, use the idea of Psalm 23 above and tell him so. He hears you very well and has longed a very long time for that conversation.

Hope That Won’t Disappoint

by Robin Seaton | Mar 3, 2025 | Places for Hope and Healing Resources, What Does a Relationship With God Look Like?, Why Am I Here?

Are you in a place where hope seems only for someone else?

I have experienced a hope in Jesus Christ that has never disappointed me despite all that I’ve faced.

GOD’S HOPE STORY WITH HUMANITY

A story that began very long ago

In ancient times, most of the known world rejected God. It hadn’t always been that way, but that’s a story for another day. God had created humanity for communion with him, and so invited a people to come out of their chosen idolatries and enter into a relationship with him. He promised to care for, defend, ardently love, and prosper them if they would devote themselves to him as he devoted himself to them. As he had vowed to care for and love them, they vowed to give him their total devotion as well. Yet, over the centuries, although God kept his end of the vow, they did not.

In the Bible, God likened this vow with his people to an intimately loving marriage, and made this agreement with them as a solemn vow, or covenant. Even though God did protect them, provide lavishly for them, and love them with a forever love, they often wanted to be like all the other nations and do as they wished but still reap the benefits of God’s heart toward them and the vow they shared.

God warned them over and over not to reject his love but to return to him. Yet over and over they chose other lovers and then pretended that these lovers had been the providers all God had lavishly given them. Their commitment broken over and over, God eventually gave them over to their lovers, in this case the country of Babylon who battered and cruelly broke them.

God’s heart was that they return to him and to the covenant they once shared, and so, in the middle of their slavery to their lover Babylon, he offered them hope. A certain hope based on his love for them, and his power to affect change once they chose to return to him.

As his own people languished in slavery to Babylon seventy years, they remembered what God had done for them, and how he had loved and cared for them. Their hearts warmed, as they envisioned his past mercies. Such memories comforted them as they faced reality. During this time, someone penned the following verses, recorded in the Bible, as God offered them his love and hope in the middle of all they faced.

Maybe you relate. I know I do.

How you and I fit into God’s hope story

This same God offers each of us the same hope by offering us the same opportunity to return to him. He offers us a plan of restoration, just as he offered his people so long ago. A man named Paul clearly laid out the reality of our choices:

The prophet Joel also gives us our remedy:

Maybe you once cried out to God in your pain, yet your requests seemed to vanish into thin air. The God of the universe heard, but is not a Santa Claus who forever gives without expectation. He wants you in all your brokenness. He wants to bring you to himself and offer you all he offered his people so long ago, with the same vow. You don’t need to clean yourself up first. You can’t. But he can clean you up and give you a life you could never have imagined on your own. I know.

I have discovered that what he offers is far and above all I could ever give him. His hope realized is a life of purpose and identity with a love no man can offer.

GOD OFFERS YOU THE SAME HOPE

Let me end this post with a song that beautifully expresses the hope I have found, and the hope God offers you through Jesus. The first lines of the lyrics exclaim:

How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness, Your loving-kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope

God’s offer stands. The choice is yours. He’s just waiting for you to decide – go your own way and hope it works well eventually, or go with Jesus and receive a living hope you could never have imagined, despite what goes on around you.

May I pray for you?

Lord, you see and hear the cries of this dear one. You see their desperation. Reveal Jesus to them. Show yourself loving and compassionate beyond their imaginations. Give them they hope they long for, through Jesus Christ, for you are more loving and compassionate than they could ever imagine. In Jesus’ name, amen.

To grow in a new relationship with Jesus, and/or to find help in your pain, click this link for resources