How Does it Really Feel to Run from God?
Running from God, in the moment can feel like the right thing. After all, we tell ourselves we know best for our own lives. The modern idea in loving people like you love yourself is flawed. Let me tell you, this modern principle couldn’t be more opposite from God’s desire. You ever hear of the golden rule? Treat others as you would treat yourself? Also, a broken moral teaching. If I’m honest, I can be my own worst critic. Sure I feed myself, I clothe myself, I even try to do things to sustain my own life. Loving others before yourself is the real challenge.
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ‘ This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. – Matthew 22:36-39 NRSV.
You may have to re-read my first paragraph again, because right now I seem like I am contradicting myself. The Bible clearly says love your neighbor as yourself, but yet I seem to be against this principle? Well, I’m not. I’m saying without the first great commandment in loving Jesus, we cannot truly love ourselves. If our identity is in Him however, we get a grasp of what Christ-like love is. This allows us to love people sacrifically in truly putting the needs of others before ourselves.
If we truly believe the Bible is God’s inspired and breathed word of God that is applicable to all our every day life, then we must fully surrender to it continually. But, running from that truth and living ‘your best life’, can seem right almost every time. Unfortunately, sin feels good in the moment. So, it’s no wonder we can easily deceive ourself away from truth in a self-seeking adventure of fleshly living. Satan’s luxuries often feel comfortable and if we are not in check with our relationship with Jesus, we can fall blindly into a lukewarm coma.
Signs That You Are Fading from the Flock
How does one know when they are fading from the flock? If sin feels comfortable, how can we know we are no longer pursuing God’s design for our lives? If Satan is a deceiver, how can we be sure of truth? These are a few questions I had to disect in my own walk with God. I’m not near perfect and I still fall into the Devil’s lies in my own life. I cannot approach this as if I have all the answers, but I do know where to turn when I don’t have those answers.
Fading from the flock can be felt by annoyance of truth and desensitized recognition of the difference between right and wrong. I found myself in this situation many times in my balance beam walk with God. Teetering from one truth to one lie after another. Is sex before marriage wrong? Nah, not if I plan on marrying the girl. LIE. Is porn okay to watch? I’m not hurting anyone. WRONG. The more I leaned to left, my balance started to quickly fade and I eventually found myself completely off the beam I was walking on. So naturally, I felt like my walk was balanced. I didn’t have to teeter between truth and lies anymore, because I had already jumped off completely.
Sin feels comfortable, so it’s easy to justify it. But the moment we have to justify a lifestyle apart from our knowledge of truth, we are living a lie. To protect privacy, I won’t share a name but an experience. I have a close friend who completly turned from God. They no longer even acknowledge His existence. I mean, this is a person to me that had a huge impact on my own Christian walk. When we drift so far away from truth and find a way to justify sin, we can start to denounce who God is and could eventually deny His existence in our own lives.
Satan is a deceiver. He deceived the angels in Heaven to stand against God and follow him. He deceived Adam and Eve into thinking God was withholding truth from them. And he is deceiving human-kind with the same tactics he has always used. If Satan gets you to doubt truth and focus on your own path, he claims a victory against God’s desire in your own personal life. Satan cannot win in the end, so every person he can lead astray is a tragic deception and hinderance to the Gospel message.
How to Turn Back When You Feel so Far Away
When you feel so far away from Jesus, it really does seem like you can never make it back. But, this is also a huge lie Satan uses to keep us away from the flock. The Prodigal Son teaches us that we are never too far from God to be welcomed back with open arms. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” – Luke 15:20 ESV. We can’t be too far from God, because He will meet us where we are! Isn’t that beautiful?! God will always embrace us with open arms!
My prayer in writing all of this is to point you to Jesus. No life lived is too far from God’s salvation. The Bible even says He parts our sin as far as the east is from the west. You know what that means right? Our sin has no control over our destiny! So it’s no wonder Satan is in the business of attacking Christians. If he can get us to live a lifestyle abusive of grace, he keeps us from spreading the love of Christ. Obedience to Jesus means a fruitful life. That scares the Devil! Be bold, be courageous, and know that you are never too far from God’s everlasting reach.