A while back, I received a phone call that caught me off-guard. The caller was crying and shaken and an emotional wreck. Bad things had happened. I knew some, but not all, of them were a crop they had sown.
I was bombarded with questions and my head was spinning. I prayed a quick prayer; there was time because of the barrage of questions. I knew it would be foolhardy to try to answer the questions because they were all symptoms of the underlying problem.
This is what God had me say. It wasn’t much but it shutdown the chaos. I said, “Stop. Go find God. Call your friends, call churches, find someone that you can go to that will pray with you, help you get back into church, and help you become involved in church. Run to God.”
They did, then they didn’t, then more bad things happened, then they did, and, now this person and family are headed in the right direction. I’m still watching to see if they completely surrender to God.
People are complicated. The second biggest miracle of God is that He hasn’t already wiped us all off the face of the Earth.
We find in Luke 15:20 “So he got up and went to his father…”, and, in Luke 24:12, “Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb…”, and in James 4:8, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you…”
The prodigal didn’t have to go in search of his father for he knew where he’d find him, Peter didn’t start searching through cemeteries for he knew where Jesus had been buried, and as for James 4:8, he assumes you know were God is — He’s at your heart’s door, waiting to be asked back in.
When you find yourself off God’s straight path (I’ve yet to meet anyone that’s never had this problem), start moving. Run to God and He will run to you. But, you first have to “get up”. Take action. Go back to where you last were in right communion with God for it’s there you will find Him.
God loves you and won’t give up on you. Remember, God always finishes any work He starts.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash