What happens when you feel like
that you are a long way off from God and you know that you are not connected
like you used to be, or maybe you never really were connected to Him.
You have become separated by your
lifestyle and choices and are headed for the hard road of ruin.
You may feel like there is a huge
gulf between you and God and your worthiness is at all-time low - feeling like
you are a lowly individual that God would not consider as a priority - way down
on His list due to constant failure.
You can only feel despair and
it's not worth trying to impress, or get up on your feet - might as well accept
defeat.
Reach Out
Hopelessness and despair are
powerful negative emotions that can keep us from moving forward. Our vision
becomes blurred and we just can't see any way out of our dire situation and no
hope in the future. When our heart sinks down low, there just isn't that spark
to pull us up and project us towards some type of victory - the cards are
stacked up against us and it is just too heavy this time.
Deep down there is resilience, a
smoldering ember of hope and when all looks lost we can make a decision just to
reach out to the God of all creation, who is awesome in His Love and Power. He
has made all of the bright stars in the majestic universe displayed in the
night sky and arranged them in glorious splendor.
Still, just when you are at a
point of desperation you call out for mercy, hoping that He will listen and
consider your desperate situation - as you know that you really blew it big
time.
Well the definition for sin is
just that - you have missed the mark - and guess what you have fulfilled it to
the full - not something to be proud of, but what can you do?
You know you have made an effort
in the past, but the allure of the enticing pleasures draw you in, you gave in
once again and did not resist.
Now there is no pleasure anymore,
it does not truly satisfy and it only ever had a brief high, but not true
happiness and you are worn down and destitute from reckless living, it is a
spiral going out of control and it drags you down its slippery plug hole.
There is Good News
Well I can tell you - there is
Good News for the lost and the departed.
The Father (God) saw the prodigal
son who spent his inheritance on reckless living and pleasures - returning,
dejected, having ended up in a pig pen - while he was returning and he was a
long way off the Father saw him.
God of Compassion
How would the Father happen to
see him when he was such a long way off.
I can tell you it is the
compassion and love of our Heavenly Father who is God - you and me are His
creation - beloved and wonderfully made, He loves us so much, beyond our
limited perceptions, that He can sense our desperation and willingness to
return from our unacceptable lifestyle.
Luke 15:20 ".....while he was still a long way off, his Father saw
him...."
His Father saw him and filled
with compassion ran to His son and threw His arms around him. (paraphrased)
Does that sound like a God of
severe judgment and the God of wrath that is all about punishing us for our
sins?
Yes we do deserve it, no doubt,
the punishment is due and coming to us unless we are willing to return and give
our life over to the Heavenly Father of true compassion. Being a long way off - is a place where many
of us find ourselves in the life journey and the pits that we end up in, because
we are flawed and have our own agenda to live according to our selfish desires.
Where does it get us - usually in the pig pen.
Yes God is not mocked - what we
sow we reap and what goes around comes around, you know there is a universal
law at work.
Changing Direction
However, we can change direction,
we can change track and reverse out of the mess.
It most likely will be a process
of workings out, to unravel a lifetime of errors and destruction - but the
decision is in an instant that can change our entire future for the good -
instead of remaining in the place of total despair and doom there is a way out
- spelt JESUS - yes the Father has made a way out of being condemned - to be
redeemed - saved from ruination and destruction. Now we can freely accept this
gift, without fear and we can come as we are, in the very state we are in, to
be accepted. We don't have to go through hoops and hurdles and achieve a level
of holiness before we are accepted.
God knows you and all of your
weaknesses and everything that you have done wrong and are going to do wrong,
despite all of the mess, He still loves you and is waiting for you to come back
to Him.
Come as you are - let the God who
created this wonderful planet and the universe and all power do the work in you
- it is not too hard for Him, nothing makes Him hesitate or is beyond His
ability.
He has put our sins as far as the
east is from the west. (Psalm 103)
Don't feel that you are just not
worthy enough, because what you have done is just so bad that no one would ever
forgive your gross sin - God is not limited and is infinitely greater than just
anyone, He is LOVE, His nature is LOVE and He never changes, it is only us that
can refuse His love and miss out on His invitation.
Though you be a long way off, you
can always turn around and begin to step towards your best future, that will be
bright and full of promise. Look towards
God, who loves you and can never fail.
Peter Koren
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