When I got up this morning I had no intention to write today. I was going to take the day off. But you know what? I have discovered that it’s not really about what I want to do, what my plans may be. God is in control……and at some point this morning he said, “Listen up. I’ve got something for you today.” So hopefully something that God wishes to speak about, through these words I type, may help one of you out there in something you may be going through in your life.
You know those times when you head out the door somewhere and you realize you’ve forgotten something you need? I do it all the time. I’ll get to the main road where I’m supposed to turn left for work and I’m like, “Oh man, I forgot my lunch.” So I turn to the right, circle back around to the neighborhood and run in and grab it. I know that’s just a simple illustration of my point, but I believe that God has brought me back to him. I have circled around and He is firmly in control of my life. He made me turn right, when all I wanted to do was turn left.
When’s the last time you went to church…prayed….talked to Jesus? I spent 20 years away from God. I graduated High School and moved away from my home church. I honestly believe that I went to church one time on my own accord in the past 20 years. But I know now that God never left me…..He never pulled his hand back and said, “To heck with you, if you are aren’t going to listen, I’ll go find someone else who will.” That’s not the kind of God I serve.
I was talking to my step mother the other day and she told me at one point in her life some things happened and she quit going to church. She quit for a long time. And then one day she went back and hasn’t stopped going since. This morning as I got to church and we were talking to a friend, I got a text on my phone. It was a picture from my dad and he said he had gone back to church this morning. I don’t know how long its been since he has gone to church, but he went today.
God NEVER gives up on us. He NEVER pulls his hand back. Jesus said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)” He is always there…….waiting……if he must, for us to return. In Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). One of the brothers takes what his father gives him and leaves….only to squander what has been given. He later returns home where his father embraces him and celebrates that he is home. The brother, who stayed behind, is angry for he was there the whole time…..working for his father. But Jesus says this, “But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost but has been found (Luke 15:32).”
We have ALL been lost. I have been lost, at times, more than you can imagine. I have turned from God…..the decisions I’ve made would have any loving father slam the door in my face if I ever returned home. But with Jesus this will never happen. The door is always open, His hand is always reaching out. He won’t bend over and grab you, you have to reach out for yourself, you have to want it, you have to make the first move. But as soon as you reach out your hand………He will scoop you up into his arms like you’ve never been away.
Like I said, I’ve done it….I’ve run away. But let me tell you this……since I’ve come home, the blessings bestowed on my life are innumerable. And it’s not wealth….its not fancy cars or a big home….its the relationships with my wife…..the relationships with my children…..the relationships with my family……the peace that I experience at work, when I once wanted to quit my job and run away. Jesus is here for you. All He wants you to do is reach out and grab his hand.
I pray that if you are out there somewhere….struggling with a decision on whether or not to rekindle your relationship with God, whether or not to go back to that church you quit, or go to another one you may have found. Don’t wait another day……GO!!!!! He wants you so much more than you may want Him. I pray that you find Him somewhere in your life this week, and maybe this time next weekend you have returned home, you have gone back to a place you left so long ago.
Tetelestai 