God Is Close, and He Understands - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - April 30, 2025

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God Is Close, and He Understands
By Rick Warren

“The LORD is near to all who call on him.” Psalm 145:18 (NIV)

God may sometimes feel farther away than the farthest star—but he’s not. He’s as close as your next heartbeat. He’s with you every moment of every day. 

The Bible says in Acts 17:27, “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us” (NIV). 

Today you may feel like God is a million miles away. But your feelings and reality don’t always match. And reality is this: God is with you right now.

Because he is a close Father, these things are true about God:

God is never too busy for you. Psalm 145:18 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him” (NIV). Every time you call, God is near. He thinks about you a lot more than you think about him. He thought about you before you were born. He thinks about you every moment of every day. You may get too busy for God—but he never gets too busy for you. 

God loves to meet your needs. He doesn’t do it begrudgingly. He loves it! Mathew 7:11 says, “If you . . . know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (NIV). You can enjoy the fact that God loves giving good gifts to you.

God is sympathetic to your hurts. When you are going through something tough, rely on this verse: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NIV). 

God is close to you, and he understands what you’re going through. Turn to him. And you’ll find that he’s already right there with you. 

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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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