The Near Word: Finding God in Ordinary Moments

Pastor James Cole

It-it was, I think, a Tuesday morning, about, oh, three weeks ago, and I- I was sitting at my kitchen table. The clock said 6:42 AM. I had a lukewarm cup of coffee in my hand, a stack of unpaid bills to my left, and a pile of half-prepared sermon notes to my right, and I felt this... this heavy, familiar wave of spiritual inadequacy. I- I think we all know that feeling. It's that nagging voice that whispering that says, you know, if you were a *real* Christian, you'd be waking up at 5:00 AM for an hour of pristine, uninterrupted quiet time. Or maybe you'd be on a week-long silent retreat in the mountains somewhere, or you'd have a seminary degree under your belt. We build this... this mental image of faith as a spiritual Mount Everest, and we assume we're- we're just stuck in the muddy valley, lacking the right gear to even start the climb.

Pastor James Cole

But the thing is, this isn't a new struggle. If you look at Deuteronomy, chapter thirty, right around verse eleven, Moses is standing before a crowd of exhausted, dusty people. These are people who have been wandering in a literal wilderness for forty years. They're- they're tired, they're anxious, they're standing on the edge of the Promised Land, and they're probably thinking, "How on earth are we supposed to keep God's law in this messy, unpredictable new world?" And Moses looks at them and says, "Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away." It's not in heaven, he says, so that you have to ask, "Who will go up to heaven for us and get it?" And it's not across the sea, so you have to ask, "Who will cross the river, or cross the ocean, to bring it to us?"

Pastor James Cole

There is a real, almost comedy to our modern spiritual search, isn't there? We- we act as if God's truth is locked behind some high-premium paywall in heaven. Like we need a spiritual influencer or some elite explorer to go fetch it for us and translate it. We think, "If I could just buy that new devotional book, or if I could just get to that Christian conference next month, *then* I'd find God." We treat faith like an achievement to unlock, a prize at the end of a very long, very complicated obstacle course. But Moses is trying to tell us that the Creator of the universe has already bypassed the obstacle course. He has already come down the mountain to meet us right where we are, in the middle of our very ordinary, very chaotic lives. It's- it's as close and simple as your next breath.

Pastor James Cole

Moses lands the point beautifully in verse fourteen. He says, "No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and it is in your heart for you to observe." Think about that for a second. The "near word." It's not a distant echo from a mountaintop. It's here. In your mouth. In your heart. This shifts our entire spiritual life from a posture of striving to a posture of... of noticing. We don't have to manufacture God's presence; we just have to notice it. The near word of God doesn't usually show up in spectacular lightning bolts or parting seas on a Tuesday morning. It shows up in the micro-moments. It's that tiny, quiet nudge to- to choose a patient response to that incredibly frustrating email from your coworker. It's the decision to offer a warm, genuine smile to the tired cashier at the grocery store who just dropped your eggs. It's in the quiet, mundane spaces of the day.

Pastor James Cole

So, let's- let's try something today. A simple exercise I like to call the "Tuesday pause." Wherever you are right now—maybe you're parked in your car before walking into the office, or you're standing at the kitchen sink, or you're sitting at your desk—just take sixty seconds. Let's do it right now. Quiet your mind. Take a deep breath. Maybe place a hand over your heart, and just acknowledge this simple truth: the love of God is already dwelling within you. You don't have to travel to find it. You don't have to earn it. It is here. It is near.

Pastor James Cole

Let's close with a quick prayer. Lord, help us to stop hunting for you in the dramatic distances. Give us the eyes to see you, and the hearts to welcome you, in the immediate, ordinary moments of this very day. In your holy name we pray, amen. Alright, my friends. Go in peace, and look for the near word today. Talk to you soon.