Running Away from God Never Solves Anything!

How often do you find yourself running away from what you know you should be doing? Your life is spent searching for paths of fulfillment; yet, you seem to never find exactly what you’re looking for. Each new path of hope you travel down only ends in further discouragement and discontentment.

I certainly spent a great deal of time running away from the Lord’s direction for my life. I was under the impression that His path would be boring—something you do after you’ve enjoyed all life has to offer. Yet, it didn’t take long to discover the mistakes I’d made and the cover-ups required to continue fooling myself into thinking I was doing the right thing.

One of the best examples found in Scripture is Jonah. The Scripture says: “The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.’ But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD” (Jonah 1:1-3 NLT). God had mapped out a plan for Jonah’s life. But Jonah wasn’t happy with it and very quickly headed off in the other direction.

You feel God trying to lead you but you’re not happy with the direction He has chosen—the possible outcome is not what you really had in mind for yourself. Your mind begins whirling; you think about all you’re going to miss out on and before you know it you’ve high-tailed it off in your own direction—doing your own thing.

Maybe your life is in a mess today because of bad decisions, bad choices, and a bad sense of direction? Jonah found himself in the belly of fish. In the midst of this terrible situation, he said: “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!” (Jonah 2:2 NLT). God hadn’t given up on him. God didn’t write him off as a loss! God heard his plea for help and came to his rescue.

The same goes for you today! God has not written you off. He loves you and desires to have you back following His leading and the path that He has mapped out for you. Jonah was not only saved from his own personal destruction but God went on and used him in a mighty way for the saving of many souls.

Running away from God never solves anything! Turn your life around today. Seek God and His way and He will free you from the path of destruction you have gotten yourself onto.

Scripture Reading: “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, I have struggled against You and Your will for a long time. I know You love me; I know You have a path for me that leads to victory, peace, joy and eternal happiness. I know You have my best at heart. Please forgive my wandering. Forgive my rebellion against You. Purify my heart and life and help me to re-focus upon Your direction. I thank You that You never gave up on me but continue to tug at my heart and life through Your Holy Spirit! Again, thank You, Lord! I love You!…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!