Feeling distanced from God?

Are you going through some rough times that are causing you to wonder where God is and why He isn’t answering your prayers? Often, whenever this happens, we must look into ourselves – how are we living our life? Are we doing things OUR way, or HIS? Chances are, when we hit these “brick walls” it’s because we didn’t seek HIM before we made our decisions, and He has left us alone to learn a lesson while suffering the consequences of our actions. 

At that point, many stubbornly tend to become angry and begin to distance themselves from YHWH – which is a HUGE mistake! We are IN the end times and should be drawing closer to Him than ever, because as we see in Matthew 24:13, only those who endure to the end will be saved.

Below are a couple of examples of how to return to God – but keep in mind, Satan hates you and he wants to hurt/maim/kill you! He keeps us on a "merry-go-round" from which we cannot escape, because he knows our wants and desires and the "ruts" we are in. We are creatures of habit and will ALWAYS gravitate back to what we know …and what we WANT.

Example Number One:

A guy comes to a "fork" in the road. He looks to the left and sees a lot of bumps and potholes. He looks to the right and the road looks a lot newer and better, so he takes that one. He walks for a long time with no problems, then all of a sudden, he falls into a huge pothole - one so big, it takes him days to dig himself out. So, he goes back to the fork in the road, looks to the left and the right. The left has all those potholes and the right is still smooth, so he figures, now since he knows where that big pothole is, he will just walk around it, and so he takes that "right" road again.

When he gets to the pothole, he does walk around it, but didn't realize there was another, even bigger one on the other side, and he falls into that one, and it takes him days to dig himself out of it. Once he does, he goes back to the fork, but rather than to try to see where that other road leads, he once again decides to take the smoother-looking road...because now he knows where those two potholes are, and he'll just be extra careful this time....

Do you get it? We always try to fix ourselves the same way, from several different angles, doing what is "right" according to our limited human mindsets. We like to believe we are in control, never stopping to think that, if we were to let go of what we THINK we know, we could begin to find some better remedies and get to our final destination a stronger, smarter person. The other way - the way we THINK we know - can kill us! And that is what Satan is counting on. If you're dead, you won't have a chance to "get yourself right with God!"

Example Number Two:

"Little Foxes" - A parable: A mother fox had her babies in my barnyard a few years ago, and then she abandoned them. Naturally, I took pity on them and raised each one, myself. They were so cute and, once they started growing, they began to banter and play by grabbing a hold of my pant legs in hopes of keeping me from walking away. This was a lot of fun, but I noticed that as they got bigger, they were harder to drag along. By the time they became adults, I couldn't move at all when they descended upon my pant leg.

This is kind of like the "baggage" of our lives. It's usually not too bad at first, but as time goes along, it starts to become heavier and heavier, and pretty soon, it bogs us down altogether. For instance, when a spouse or a friend has hurt us, it will drive a wedge into our relationship forever unless we find a way to resolve it and then forgive and move on. Or, if we had an abusive childhood, we tend to become abusive parents - unless we recognize that we are perpetuating the same behaviors. Or, if our marriage ends due to physical, mental or emotional abuse and/or irreconcilable differences, we can't expect to find a new and healthy relationship until baggage from the old relationship has been resolved and forgiven and has no chance of interfering...

The ONLY way to become "baggage free" is to recognize the problem and be willing to confront it - and then forgive the other person (even if they do not wish to cooperate in this matter); and then turn the whole thing over to YHWH. He knows your pain, but He wants to help you grow and mature by allowing you to learn from, and overcome your problems. In other words, He often "refines us in the fire" as beautifully illustrated in this story: We CANNOT become a reflection of Him until we have been molded into His Image! See http://therefinersfire.org/refiners_fire.htm