I can’t get you off
my mind.
I’ve tried for weeks to push this message out of my heart
and file it under things to write on in the future. I’ve put off writing these words for many
reasons. Fear of rejection. Fear of the unknown. Fear you won’t hear my heart and won’t
understand where I’m coming from. I
wanted to leave this alone. Truly I did.
But it doesn’t always work that way. There are some words, some messages that
won’t leave me alone and friend, this is one of them. I can’t promise that these words won’t stir
up something inside of you, I actually hope they do. Maybe these words aren’t meant for you at all. Maybe they are meant for someone you hold
close to your heart. A family
member. A beloved friend. A co-worker.
Friend, please hear me when I say, these words of mine
come from love. Such a deep love for you.
There is no judgement. No
malice. No ill intentions. I need you to know that so when you move down
the page of my heart on this screen, you know that my words come from
me wanting you to know you are cherished. Loved.
Worthy. Magnificent. So with that, I need to tell you something
hard but something ever so important.
Stop running from
God.
I’m sure it feels like life is just a giant question mark
sometimes. You struggle to know who you
are, where you’re going or what the next season holds for you. Maybe you find yourself looking in the mirror
at yourself and wondering when you changed.
I know it’s an uphill battle. Sometimes the pain is just too great and
there are too many questions unanswered.
Perhaps you’ve asked some of these questions before:
If God is such a good God, then why did He
let this happen?
If God really loves me, why didn’t He save
me from this?
If God is real, then why is there so much
suffering in the world?
If
God…
If
God…
If
God…
Those are difficult, valid questions. Questions I won’t pretend to know the answer
to. But I do know that God uses our
trials and struggles to draw us closer to Him.
I know that if He brings us to it,
He will more than bring us through it. In this way, we learn our desperate need for
Him, for a Savior.
Maybe it’s not questions that plague your mind. Maybe it’s simply that sin feels better than
repentance and change. Satan is so good
at making us a slave to our sins and the things of this world draw us in like
moths to a flame. They fulfill us, for a short time. They feel good. They give us what we want, what we
desire. Whatever it is- drinking, sex,
partying, gossip, lying, greed.
But none of it compares to
Jesus.
Friend, I've been there. I've turned my heart away from
Him before. It was easier to go through
the motions of life and pretend my sin didn’t exist. To look for value and acceptance from others
instead of letting Him blow my heart wide open with His truth. It was easier to pretend that He was some
distant God in the sky more than a personal Savior. It was easier to push the pain down than to
allow Him to do the work He needed to and heal me.
God is a fierce
pursuer of our hearts and He doesn’t stop pursuing His children. “For the Lord your God is a
consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 4:24 (NIV). I’m so glad He never stops pursuing us. Aren’t you?
I need you to know this.
You are never too far gone for God to reach you. To see you.
To work in your life. To love
you. Never. God’s love is never-ending, never
ceasing. You see it doesn't matter what
you've done or where you've been. It matters that you return and that His arms
are wide open ready to receive you.
What if, just for a brief moment, you stopped and sat
still with Him. You let your shoulders
relax and your breath slow. You focused
your mind simply on Him, on His peace.
There is no agenda there, from you or from Him. There is simply stillness. I think in those still, quiet moments God
would whisper to your heart, come home child.
I love you.
I miss you.
I cherish you.
Nothing you do will
stop me from loving you.
Do you believe that?
Do you know how much He loves you?
How much you matter to Him?
You matter. Your
life matters. And if it sounds like I’m
being overly dramatic and too serious, I’m okay with that. That’s
how serious I take this. Because I
want you to know just that badly how much God wants you to stop running from
Him.
It’s okay that you messed up. It’s okay that you don’t have it all
together. Welcome to the club! We’re all broken and in need of a Savior. You think you’re too messed up for Him to
use? Look at the people in the
Bible-Noah, Moses, David, Rahab, Mary Magdalene, and Paul just to name a few. They messed up, but God used them
in mighty ways. Ways that brought Him glory;
that fulfilled His promises and purposes.
If you need healing, who
better to heal you than Jesus?
You need acceptance?
Who better to accept you than The
One who was rejected by man.
You need love? You’ll never find anyone who will love you
more. I guarantee it.
You want to know there’s something beyond the life you’re
living? That God has a plan for
you? You
bet. 1,000% He does. (Jeremiah 29:11)
But you have to
stop running friend. You have to let
go of the things that have held you captive and release them to God. There is nothing too dirty, too painful or too
burdensome that God can't handle or that you cannot be forgiven and redeemed
from.
What if today, you stopped running, stopped pursuing
other things and gave yourself back to Him?
You are never too far gone for God. You can always come home. Will you come?
Lord Jesus,
I don’t know why
we run from you. I don’t know why we
think our ways are better than yours. Forgive us for turning away when what our
hearts need most is You. You give us
this beautiful parable in Luke 15. A
story of the prodigal son returning home.
He thinks he will be met by his father with haste and anger, yet he is
welcomed with open arms, a celebration of return. You give us this beautiful example of your
love for us in this story. Thank you for
your unending patience and grace with us.
Thank you for open arms and unending love. You are the only thing that can truly fulfill
us. Draw us closer to you and help us to
run fast to you. Fast to your
everlasting arms.
In Your Name,
Amen.
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