In Chapter 10, the concluding chapter of God is Closer Than You Think, author John Ortberg reminds us that Jesus came to earth not only to die on the Cross, but also to bring us the reality of God’s presence:
“Jesus didn’t just come to pierce the hedge that separates God from human beings. He came to tear down the hedges of fear and suspicion and bitterness that separate human beings from each other.”
Certainly our ministry downsizing or job loss generates enormous potential to establish a hedge separating us from God as well as from family, friends, and former colleagues. Pastor Ortberg suggests a simple, yet exciting and life-altering prayer that breaks through that hedge and makes our lives a Bethel, the place where God dwells, every time we pray it: “God, make up there come down here.”
There is no place where God’s presence cannot break into our lives. The key is to discern where we experience “an authentic level of passion about things down here not running the way they are up there.” The author concludes:
“Every time you love, every time you include someone who’s lonely, every time you encourage someone who’s defeated, every time you challenge someone who’s wandering off the path, every time you serve the under-resourced- It is a sign that the kingdom is once more breaking into the world.”
