Have you ever thought that you weren’t worthy to be a Christian, or that you weren’t a worthy friend of Jesus? The Scriptures reflect the character of God, which is perfect and pure (Ps. 19). How can we ever measure up? Without Christ, we can never obey God’s commands, and in this life we will always struggle with disobedience. It was the will of the Father to save people through Christ (John 6:40).

There are songs, hymns, and books that tell us how God is our friend. But what do we do when it doesn’t feel like God is close?

Friends often identify in some way with each other, but “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth” (Westminster Shorter Catechism 4); and humans are finite, sinful, weak, changeable, and often get into foolish situations. How do we feel close to a God who is so very different? When God feels far away, remember these three things about the Persons of the Trinity.

1. Jesus is both true God and true man, and he sympathizes with our weaknesses.

The people of Israel wandered in the wilderness with the tabernacle and the cloud of God’s presence (Exod. 40: 34-38). Yet, the people had to remain at a distance from the tabernacle and God’s presence. Both John 1:1 and John 1:14 teach us that Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt, or “tabernacled,” with us. Jesus is both God and human, but he didn’t come as a worldly prince lording it over his subjects; rather, he came as a suffering servant (Isa. 53:1-12).

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