Surprise! You’re the One God Wants Next to Him

Some days you get in a slump and maybe you don’t truly believe there’s a place for you. You dismiss somewhere way down inside that God would actually want you next to Him. That He seeks your presence. 

Then you read John 14:2 and it hits hard: you are in the front of God’s mind. You’re not a last thought. Not unfilled potential. Not looked over in the slew of everyone else.

You’re the One God Wants

Here’s what Jesus whispers straight into your tender heart: “My Father’s house is designed to accommodate all of you. If there were not room for everyone, I would have told you. I am going to make arrangements for your arrival” (The Voice).

Note: This and the following Scripture readings today are from John chapter 14, in The Voice translation.

Not only is there a place near Him just for you, Jesus enthusiastically anticipates your arrival. His gaze rests on you, sees through you, when He lifts your chin and lets His words sink in: “I will be there to greet you personally and welcome you home, where we will be together” (v3). 

This is honest, un-contained affection undoubtedly directed straight towards you.

It’s deeply personal—God longing to be with you.

Unceasing Withness

Beneath the picture of heaven Jesus paints is His heart cry to be with you. Every brushstroke resounds with the genuine sentiment: I want you next to Me! 

No matter what’s stood between you and Him. No matter how undeserving you are or where you’ve wandered, Jesus never stops pursuing you, never stops calling you home.

He says it over and over again, because our hearts often need the repetition: you with Me and Me with you.

I continue reading, slowly taking in the intensity of God’s devotion. Here, in verse 16, He sends the Holy Spirit—a constant companion. Withness.

I will ask the Father to send you another Helper, the spirit of truth, who will remain constantly with you.

– v. 16

Feel the tenderness in Jesus’ words. He’s about to face the weight of all our pain—physical, relational, mental, emotional. Bear, simultaneously, the breakage of every heart that’s ever rejected Him. Sit in the darkness with every thought that’s ever tormented a human mind—past, present, and future.

He could have been self-consumed in this moment, and we wouldn’t blame Him. But He keeps right on loving you with every drawn breath. Finds your eyes and says you’re stuck with Him, if you’ll have Him.

Now, Not Just Someday

In case you need another reassurance, a few verses later, Jesus speaks again of you being the one He wants right next to Him.

No distance. 

No separation.

No reservation.

Just full anticipation.

His promise: You and the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—together. “We will draw close to [you] and make a dwelling place within [you],” He says of those who love and listen to Him” (v. 23).

Sit a moment with this: you are the one God wants to be with now, not just someday.

He can’t wait until heaven to be close to you. That’s how often you’re on His mind. How dear you are to Him.

Remember that on the days you feel unwanted or unworthy.

God, who breathed the stars into the sky and the light into your eyes, has an insatiable desire to be next to you. Jesus shed His rights and left His heavenly home to walk this earth by our side, then returned home so He could bring us home but sent the Holy Spirit “to teach [us] everything and remind [us] of all [He] . . . said to [us]” (v. 6).

Why? Because the triune God says that you belong. Your presence matters. You are the delight of His heart. He wants you right next to Him–now and for forever. And you’ll need Him in order to live like Him.

The Power of Proximity

I’m one to follow the make-it-up-as-I-go plan. I steer towards self-resolve and self-reliance when it’s me behind the wheel. So of course verse 10–where Jesus shares, “I’m not making this up as I go along”–would catch my attention.

Jesus and His Father work together seamlessly. They are of the same mind, carry the same vision, and are interconnected in every divine way. “The Father has given Me these truths that I have been speaking to you, and He empowers all My actions,” Jesus continues (v. 10).

If Jesus needed to maintain proximity with His Father, why would I think any of my efforts would point to Christ unless I stay close to Him?

Jesus knew this about me. Knew I’d need constant help in order to stay out of the way and point the glory to Him. Knew my propensity to self-critique and that I’d need regular reminders that He wants me near Him.

He knows this about you too. 

That’s why He says He’d send a companion to remain with us in His absence in the same breath as He offered the weighty truth, “If you love Me, obey the commandments I have given you” (v.15).

We can’t love unless we know how loved we are, can’t point people to Him unless we know we have a place right next to Him, can’t adopt His mission unless we know His “heart, will, and nature” (v. 21). That’s why proximity is of utmost importance. 

On our own, we get tangled up in both pride and self-pity–orphan mentality. We self-berate instead of adoring and obeying Him. Turn our eyes inward instead of on Him.

The truth is we have a Father, and there’s a place right next to Him waiting for us: a permanent home He’s preparing for us, but also one here on earth. His withness changes everything for us.

Now, not just one day:

We aren’t unwanted, orphaned, or alone. There’s a spot right next to God with each of our names on it.

We’re not on our own to figure out how to love Him and live like Him. We have the best help–every single millisecond.

Let’s pray.

God, I bring my unworth and inattention. When I feel least like You’d want me near You, You say, “Please come.” Thank you for the gift of Your proximity, not just some day in the future, but right here, right now.

Just a friend over here in your corner,

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