Running From God
As I read this scripture today, I looked at my past.
I reflected on how many times I went the wrong direction.
I remembered so many of my poor decisions.
I recalled all the times I made really bad choices.
I relived the times I saw the right way, but my judgement was so bad, I went the other way.
I realized today what I was doing back then;
I was running from God.
I had been approached and told about God many times, but I mocked it.
I didn’t want any part of it.
I was having ‘fun’.
Too much of a great time (which for me was lots of sex, drugs, alcohol, & crime) It was too enjoyable to give it up for a God who was;
Uptight, out of sight, up in the air with long white hair.
So I ran the other way, like Jonah, to where God wouldn’t see me or bother me.
☆ And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
• Hebrews 4:13
Why did I do that?
Because, like most others who do that, I didn’t want to sacrifice.
Sacrifice what?
All that I knew.
I was suffering from a form of cognitive dissonance.
I was unable to let go of what I believed to be true.
I believed, within the culture I was involved in, that;
1. What I was doing was admirable.
2. I had a cool place on the beach,
3. I was able to get plenty of women
4. I had access to the best drugs,
5. I was well traveled &
6. I was smart and I knew a lot.
I believed that living in L.A. in a very elite area, in the entertainment industry that I was
In the center,
Of the center,
Of the center.
Of the universe.
I believed I was a man that many men dream of being.
And I was not giving that up.
Especially for some guy in the sky I knew nothing about.
I was not turning into some Jesus freak, or Donny Osmond.
No…I was not sacrificing my lifestyle.
I was living that high life of sex, drugs and rock and roll.
No…No God for me.
☆ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
• Romans 8:7
But
I was lost.
I had no idea.
I was blind to the signs and clues.
I did not realize that God had been trying to reach me.
I was so stuck in my ways, so reluctant to give up my habits and attitudes.
I had such a hardness of heart, I was unwilling to stop what life I was living.
I was lost, blinded by the culture’s push to sin, I was resistant to God’s call.
And as that sin drove me to despair, I became unhappy about who I was.
I found myself sick and tired, of being sick and tired.
And then it hit me.
And when it hit me…
I stopped running from God.
I recognized that even though I was lost, God knew exactly where I was.
He never left me.
He did not give up pursuing me.
He found me and helped me to find me.
☆ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
• Luke 15:4-5
My cognitive dissonance was supernaturally broken through.
My reality was radically ruptured.
My heart was pierced with HIS love.
I WANTED to change.
The Lord proved to me that
I was a better man,
I was a nicer man and
I was a healthier man
After I accepted HIM.
God proved to me that the style of life I had, only led me to the darkness
Was not even close to as cool, as living a new life in God’s brilliant light!
God did for me, what He said His whole purpose was;
☆ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
• Luke 19:10
I stopped running from God.
I started running TO God.
And men, our job is to help others to stop running from God.
Let us all be that example of love, compassion, humility and light that is attractive to those who live in the dark.
I love you guys!
