Lord, will you come?

By Eric Tworek

MEET WITH ME
Song and lyrics by Ten Shekel Shirt:

I'm here to meet with you
come and meet with me
I'm here to find you
reveal yourself to me

As I wait, you make me strong
As I long, you draw me to your arms
As I stand and sing your praise
You come, you come and you fill this place
Won't you come, Won't you come and fill this place

This song puts into words what the cry of my heart in worship has been for years. Lord will you come? If I show up and sing songs of worship, will you come and fill this place with your Spirit? And there are times when that happens - when the presence of God fills the room. And there are other times when no matter how long, soft or loud I sing, God is nowhere to be found. So what makes the difference? Why does God seem so accessible sometimes and so distant at other times?

I have discovered there is no secret formula for the presence of God. God is not at my beck and call. God is not answerable to me. I, on the other hand, am answerable to God. I thought long and hard about the scripture in James 4:8: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” I really like the first part, but the second half…. “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded,” leaves me a little put off. It seems that if I want to get close to God there are a couple conditions to meet. I need clean hands - hands not involved in sin - and a pure heart that loves Christ and not the things of this world.

Over the years I have learned that it is much easier to get clean hands and a pure heart, not by trying hard to stop doing wrong things, but by simply doing the right things. The more I move towards God in my actions and thoughts, the further I move away from sin. Easy? No. Worth it? Yes!

Because the Holy Spirit dwells in me, I don’t need God to come to me as much as I need to be more aware of His constant presence. As the love of ‘things’ slowly fades, the love of Christ grows and I see Him all around. He’s in the rain. He’s in the sunset. He’s in the friends around me. He’s even in the car with me when someone cuts me off! There are still times when I feel like God is closer than at other times, but I believe I am becoming more God aware.

How about you? Do you feel close to or far away from God? Why? Drop me a note and let’s talk about it.

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Eric has been a worship leader for over 33 years, starting with a campus group at CMU. He has been leading worship at Community Church for the last four years. Eric has attended several worship seminars and read a variety of books on the subject. He enjoys helping people connect with God through praise and worship.

He has been married to Deb for 31 years. They have four wonderful children and two especially wonderful grandchildren. Eric and Deb are currently enjoying the empty nest stage of their lives.

Eric is a CMU alumnus and has been living in Mt. Pleasant since 1974. He worked as a graphic artist for many years but now is a self-employed carpenter. He enjoys many outdoor activities, especially camping with his family and singing around the campfire.