Have you ever taken a detour from your faith? Seizing an opportunity that promised pleasure, you felt yourself slipping deeper into a dark place. Having convinced yourself that it wasn’t a problem on the outside, deep down inside you knew that this wasn’t going to end well. Slowly, gradually your eyes adjusted to the darkness and your heart followed. At first, it felt like freedom, thinking you have somehow escaped the watchful eye of God. You can begin to enjoy the ride, continuing down that path of your own making, directed by none other than you. As night settles in, however, you begin to feel the weight of your wandering. Running from God can be suffocating! Trying so hard to convince yourself that God isn’t there, yet hoping deep inside that he is you feel a wrestling inside of you, the spiritual battle going on for your soul. Feeling crushed, you just want to escape this trap you have set for yourself and breathe again.
Grace and Forgiveness Can Dispel the Darkness
Mercifully, the God that you once called Father, loves you too much to leave you in the dark. He will give you glimpses of the light again so that you will see the darkness enveloping you. Opening your spiritual eyes, you catch the glimpses of light again. As you embrace the light of God’s love and surrender your wandering ways to him, the darkness flees. If you are unsure of your next move, remember the prodigal son in Luke 15. When he returned, the father came running to embrace him and welcome him home. Our Heavenly Father will do the same for all his prodigals who turn back to him.
Surrender is the Answer
All of our climbing and struggling to get right with God can be frustrating. If we surrender, asking God to pull us up and out of the pit of despair before we become completely buried in it. Our loving, merciful, gracious, forgiving God will pull us out of the dark pit and set us on the higher ground. Here we can build our house on the foundation of Jesus Christ and not the sandy, shifting shores that the world builds on. The suffocating pressure will disappear and we will feel like we can breathe again, smile again, live again. It’s time to rise from the rubble. We are free from the burden of our wandering and on the path that leads home. No more side roads leading to dark destinations. Following Christ, we will run and not grow faint on God’s path to the place that he has prepared for us, his children. And of that place, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
