God's Creation Draws Us Near
- bewanyshyn91
- 12 minutes ago
- 8 min read
"...let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings ..." Hebrews 10:22 NIV.
As a man or woman of faith, you have experienced those precious moments when you sense the close presence of the Almighty God. God's Word assures us that when we seek him with all our heart, we will find him (Jeremiah 29:13). You may have sensed His presence during corporate worship, or when revelation comes while meditating on His Word, or while listening to a message that brings understanding and insight. Those are just a few examples of intentional actions to draw near to God.
Additionally, I believe that God's creation draws us near whether it's while gazing upon the majestic snow-capped Rocky Mountains, or camping under the blanket of a star filled night sky in Northern Manitoba, or being sprayed by the waves crashing against the rugged shoreline of Peggy's Cove. These illustrations are examples of where the mind usually goes when we think of God's creation. However, my most recent experience brought me an immeasurable appreciation of how God can draw us near to Him through His created beings; persons who are not walking in direct relationship with Him. I believe God delights in showing us mysteries that demonstrate how vast in wisdom and complexity He truly is. Isaiah 55:8&9 reveals, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts" [NKJV]. In the midst of a less than godly police culture, we can encounter a closeness to God that overwhelms the chaos through a profound love and appreciation for God and His created beings.
As a faith-filled law enforcement officer, you may have experienced a closeness to God while providing peer to peer support during a coffee break with a fellow patrol officer. The officer trusted you with a problem and God gave you wisdom coupled with impactful words to guide your peer through their crisis. Hearing from God has always drawn me close; these are truly reverential moments. Perhaps your nearness to God drew from the words He gave you which upon sharing them made an impact upon your peer. Perhaps your sense of nearness to God came while convincing a jumper to come down from a bridge railing, or simply from listening to a homeless person share their journey and at the end being led to pray encouraging God-filled words over them.
As a police chaplain, you may have experienced moments while in service to law enforcement officers where you felt close to your God. Perhaps you sensed His presence while sitting quietly at an early morning roll call. Perhaps you felt near to your Creator while performing in an official capacity such as leading a Regimental Funeral, or joining two officers in a matrimonial ceremony. Maybe the closeness to God occurred while assisting officers after a traumatic incident through the facilitation of a diffusing or a debrief. As we know, a diffusing is far from being a peace-filled environment; and yet your heart was filled with love and compassion for the officers because you sensed God's love for them.
A police recruit class isn't exactly where I thought I'd be feeling a closeness to God, more tangible than what I've experienced over the past fifteen months since retiring from Brandon PS, and moving to Prince Albert, leaving behind my police family, friends, and our fellowship community. Since my wife and I moved, we haven't connected closely with similar faith-filled persons in PA. I've continued worshipping God in our new home, praying and listening to messages but it's been a solitary season, and I can count my encounters with God on one hand. I've appreciated my trips back to MB and the opportunities to minister and do contractual teaching at Assiniboine College, an accelerated BPS Recruit Class and most recently unpacking my two-week course to Troop 3 of the Manitoba First Nations Police Service.
A couple of years ago, I combined elements from different topics I've instructed at college and recruit class levels into a two-week course I've entitled, "Forensic Crime Scene Management for Frontline Officers." I've had the privilege of sharing it with MFNPS Troops 1 & 2, and most recently throughout the third week in August with MFNPS Troop 3. During Day 1 of my ten days, I shared my background with highlights of how my faith strengthened me to persevere through the many traumatic events I encountered during 33+ years in law enforcement. I shared of the importance of physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness and of the availability of valuable resources such as EAP, Employee Wellness Teams, Peer to Peer supports, psychologists and counsellors, and police chaplaincy. The promotion of wellness for police officers should be a team approach where persons from different disciplines work together with mutual respect. Law enforcement officers are diverse; thus, what works to promote wellness in one may not work for another. As a police chaplain, a faith resource I share which has been packaged specifically for law enforcement officers is the "Project Sword" book containing inspirational faith-filled stories from peace officers. These stories are inserted throughout the pages of the New International Version of the Holy Bible, which includes the Books of Psalms and Proverbs. The Project Sword book begins with an introduction to "A Special Breed"; namely peace officers.
By the end of my first week with the recruits, three of them privately approached me asking for a copy of Project Sword which I was delighted to provide to them. I receive these books at no charge from Ronald Mostrey who is the President of the organization who put the books together; namely, the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers (FCPO), based in Ottawa. Since its inception in 2019, I've handed out many copies to my peers at BPS, graduates from college and recruit classes, and officers from other police agencies. Ron has faithfully supplied me these books, plus other resources which he offers to any police chaplain or law enforcement officer across Canada. If you are serving in law enforcement or police chaplaincy and want the Project Sword books at no charge, please send your request to fcpo.aapc@gmail.com . To learn more about this wonderful book to encourage and inspire police officers, click on this link to the FCPO website page: https://fcpocanada.com/uploads/peacemakers/Psword.pdf
Before returning for my second week, two additional police recruits contacted me asking if I would bring additional copies to class. Thus, Day 1 of Week 2 began with sharing that I had brought more copies, and that recruits could approach me in private if they were interested. To my surprise, one after another raised their hand or rose from their chair to receive the Project Sword book. An additional 11 copies were given to the police recruits Monday morning. On Tuesday morning, two of the new recipients approached me in private thanking me for the book and sharing that they had read some of the stories and were pleasantly surprised by the impact the stories had on their hearts. One shared that he never thought a book like this would make him feel this way and he was looking forward to reading more of it. My heart was full as I listened twice in one day to these Manitoba First Nations PS Recruits who were being touched by the words in the book. This had been my prayer before returning for my second week, and as God was answering my prayers, my closeness to the Lord began to deepen.
As I prepared Tuesday evening for a new set of training scenarios on Wednesday morning, I felt God impress upon me to be bold and offer something I had not done prior to a graduation day. I reached out to two of the three recruits who had shared with me that they were Christians, and I asked them to send out an invitation to all the recruits who had received a book to meet with me before class on Wednesday morning for a message and for prayer. On Wednesday morning, all 14 recipients of the Project Sword NIV Holy Bibles arrived early to gather with me. I shared some specific scriptures that had been key to building resilience during my policing career, and scriptures that remain impactful today. I shared more of my journey in faith and about being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I invited any who felt comfortable receiving prayer to join me in a prayer huddle. To my delight, all 14 gathered together, arms over shoulders, in a tight circle as I prayed over them. The presence of God was in the room and when the prayer was done, one recruit who was not one of the three who identified as Christian said, "we should start every day this way ... it feels so good." I heard other voices agree with him. God was in the room. We took a group photo to seal the moment which is the one at the beginning of this story with each holding their Bibles from the FCPO. The following week while back in PA, I received a message from one of the Christian recruits expressing his gratitude for the spiritual wisdom I passed along. He also wrote, "that morning was one of the best I've had since I've started." Gathering together in prayer changes the atmosphere.
There are more one on one stories I could share from that third week in August that continued to draw me near to God like some prophetic words I shared with two of the recruits; however, I've already written a lot. I'll close by sharing that throughout that week I felt God's love for every one of the recruits. One scripture I shared with them on Wednesday tells them that they are, "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). The "fearfully" refers to the profound and sacred nature of God's act of creation; the "wonderfully" refers to the intricate, complex and beautiful nature of each person’s unique individuality. A celebration of each individual and what they bring to the MFNPS Troop 3 is what I had in my heart during Week 2. I believe that is part of why I felt closer to God while spending time with them; closer to a greater extent than I have in over 15 months. I didn't require an environment surrounded by Christians praising and worshipping God through song and Word (although I do enjoy that); I needed to appreciate God's hand of creation and purpose upon these very special men and one woman.
MFNPS Troop 3 will stand out for me because of who they are as individuals with each having a big heart. Those big hearts will be a blessing to those in the First Nations communities they serve after they graduate this October. Once again, I'll share the advice I shared that Wednesday: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" (Proverbs 4:23).
All God's best to these fine men and woman. I'll be praying for them and I ask you to pray for them, and to continue to pray for all First Responders throughout our beautiful nation of Canada. God bless you immensely for serving as police chaplains or law enforcement officers with faith. We are "Better Together" which is the theme of our week-long CPCA ATS in Vancouver in October. If you haven't registered yet, please check out our line-up of speakers, topics, and activities throughout the week from October 20 - 24. I was asked to develop a new topic, "Crime Scene Etiquette," and I'm looking forward to unpacking it on Oct 23rd; it will incorporate an interactive segment. All our presenters are excited to share material that will assist you as you serve those who serve with excellence. Registration for our CPCA ATS is online through our website, as is a discounted hotel rate (for a limited time) at the Sandman Hotel Downtown Vancouver, which is our host venue. I hope to see you there! Click on this link for all the information and registration https://www.canadianpolicechaplainassociation.com/annual-training-seminar
Warmest regards,
Rev. Bruce Ewanyshyn (Ret. BPS Cst./Honorary Chaplain)
CPCA President
ICPC Director of Region 1
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