The Lord Is Near
Philippians 4:5 · 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
On Sunday, October 25, a 66-year-old man with prostate cancer lay on an operating table at AdventHealth Minneola in central Florida. His surgeon, Dr. Vipul Patel, was not in the room. He was 35 miles away at AdventHealth Celebration, guiding a robotic system from a console.
AdventHealth describes it as the first documented robotic telesurgery between two U.S. locations. It is part of a clinical investigation authorized by the FDA, rather than FDA approval of the system for this use, and AdventHealth was careful to say that one case does not prove the technology is safe or ready for wide use. A bedside team, including Dr. Marcio Moschovas, stayed with the patient. AdventHealth said the team "was available to provide support and intervene if necessary." The hospital told ABC News the patient is doing well.
Dr. Patel said, "For generations, access to highly specialized care has often depended on where a patient lives."
The skilled hands were 35 miles away and out of sight. Yet every movement was real, careful, and close.
Many of us have prayed through seasons when GOD felt far away. We wonder whether HE hears us. A quiet answer can feel like no answer at all.
Sometimes we sit with someone we love and neither of us speaks. The silence does not mean we have stopped caring. That familiar experience can help us name the difference between feeling alone and being alone.
The Bible gives us words for that season. Psalm 83, a song bearing the name of Asaph, opens with a plea amid threats against Israel: "O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God" (Psalm 83:1). The psalmist asks GOD to act against those threatening HIS people. He goes on praying. By the end of the same psalm, his eyes were back on GOD's name. "Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth" (Psalm 83:18). His honest complaint and his worship sit side by side in the same song.
Another psalm writer said it this way. "When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy" (Psalm 94:18-19). Love held him up first. Joy came after.
David, the shepherd who became king, wrote Psalm 34. "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18). The closeness is for those who are crushed. Nobody earns it by feeling strong.
The apostle Paul, an early church leader who wrote much of the New Testament, wrote to believers in Philippi, a city in what is now Greece. Right before his famous words about worry, he wrote four short words. "The Lord is near" (Philippians 4:5).
Then he continued. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
Paul tells us to bring our requests because the Lord is near. HIS nearness comes first. Our prayers come second. The peace that follows comes from GOD too.
Anxiety is no proof that we have failed at faith. We can bring our distress before GOD while also receiving help from the people who care for us.
The apostle Peter, one of the first followers of JESUS, gave the same invitation. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). The reason is simple. HE cares.
A bishop named Irenaeus led the church in Lyon, in what is now France, around AD 180. In Against Heresies, Book IV, chapter 6, he wrote that "God cannot be known without God." Knowing GOD starts with GOD. HE makes HIMSELF known. JESUS came so that we could see what the Father is like.
So when heaven feels quiet, we can remember the surgery in Florida. The surgeon was out of sight, and his hands were still at work. A team stood by the bed. The patient had care at his side and skill at work from far away.
The comparison has a limit. GOD is not operating from a distant room. Scripture assures us of HIS presence, without promising that every illness will end as we hope. HE is near when we feel HIM and near when we do not. HIS care does not wait for our feelings to catch up.
It does leave me thinking about the quiet seasons in my own prayers, and how near HE was through all of them.
I am not here to prove myself. I am here to make HIM visible.
🙏 To the one who wonders whether GOD hears, HE is near.
🙏 To the one whose foot is slipping, HIS unfailing love holds you up.
🙏 To the one crushed in spirit, the LORD is close to the brokenhearted.
🙏 To the one full of worry, cast it on HIM, because HE cares for you.
Grace and Peace.