Honesty in the Journey

All of us struggle and no one is exempt. Bad things happen to good people. A phone call, a hard conversation or a heartbreaking doctor’s report. None of us can escape pain no matter how hard we try. Pain is inevitable, misery is an option.

We can run from our pain or fight it or become cynical and detached. As Simon and Garfunkle sang,
“I touch no one and no one touches me. I am rock and rock feels no pain and an island never cries.”  Many people won’t admit to themselves but they have resigned themselves to, “Is this all I get? I guess this is the best there is.”

We all struggle with something
Whether it’s physical or emotional pain, the pain of failure or a broken relationship, or the pain of honesty. Many are struggling to just to make it through the day.  Some pretend that everything’s okay when their dying inside.  They’re not trying to fool themselves, but maybe they’re trying to fool everyone else. Maybe they think inside that they don’t measure up or that what they’re struggling with is so embarrassing it would not be worthy of someone’s time.

Could it be that we have created a false image of what it means to be a spiritually mature person? As if, being a spiritually mature you don’t ever get depressed, worried or disappointed.  So, many put on a happy face.  Image management can become exhausting and it’s not very fun either.  Far too many buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t even know.

Some of us have been around some older folk when the filters come off and they’re not trying to impress anyone anymore. That can be uncomfortable or refreshing. We’re all human and we all drop the ball.  

Everything doesn’t have to have a positive spin
We don’t have to manufacture positive emotions to assess our lives. God created us with a yearning for belonging and acceptance.  When we understand and experience God’s unconditional love and acceptance we can begin working from acceptance and not for acceptance. As Augustine said, “You have made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its’ rest in You.”

When we’ve been deeply wounded it’s understandable to try to protect our hearts by isolating ourselves. When we are in our deepest struggle we need to stop running away from people.  Do you have someone you can run to?  

We all need people that when we mess up, they run to pick us up. They need to know we need help. It is in community that God brings His greatest healing. We need people who will believe in us and fight for us.

God doesn’t waste your pain
Nothing needs to be wasted on the editing room floor of your life. God can use your pain. If you can be honest and learn how to embrace your pain it can be a gift to you and for others. Since pain is inescapable ask God how He can use your pain to help others.

The God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4

God Gives Second Chances

Even though our life journey may not be as radical as Jonah’s was there are some practical insights we can learn from his amazing story. Looking back on our lives many of us recognize we’ve run from God one way or the other. Intentionally or unintentionally we’ve made decisions that God was not a part of. 

In the last blog we saw that when Jonah ran from God it negatively impacted those around him and brought him to a place where he definitely didn’t want to be.

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help and you listened to my cry. Jonah 2:1-2

God listens to prayer of a runner
Maybe like Jonah we’ve come to a place far from God and think we have no leverage with Him, yet God heard Jonah’s desperate cry for help. Regardless of how far we’ve wandered from God He waits for us to reach out to Him. As always He has our best interest in mind.

God is often behind the circumstance that stops a runner in their tracks

You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. Jonah 2:3

During times of disappointing circumstances many sense they’re losing their hopes and dreams and feel that God is paying them back. God is not paying us back, but rather bringing us back to Himself. Many of us can look back on a certain time in our life and know that God stopped us from having our own way.

God’s discipline can be extreme

The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.” Jonah 1:4-7

What God allows to happen can be extreme. What did it take for Jonah to come to his senses?  Yes, Jonah’s context was radical and hard to even imagine. How long was he in dire straits? Three heart pounding days. For many it’s not three days.

As a result of the Hebrews’ constant wandering from God they spent forty years in the wilderness and seventy years in Babylonian exile. Ouch. As a result of David’s relationship with Bathsheba he lost his good reputation. Despite our own self- imposed shipwreck God loves us enough to bring us back to Himself.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

Through time we can see how God’s loving discipline is for our benefit and His glory.

Running from God is to run from his provision
Jonah ran in the opposite direction God told him to and pursued what he wanted. He was chasing the wind. That perspective seems to be one of the primary reasons most people run from God, thinking they’ll secure their own fulfillment in their own way. Somewhere along the way they’ve wandered off the good path. 

This perspective never works out well for us. Like Jonah, when we wander away from God we have the same allusion that we know what’s best.There are some believers who think, I know God loves me, but I know what I’m doing, I’m going to live my life my way and then assume God will bless it. 

As Thomas A Kempis said, “There is no worse enemy, nor one more troublesome to the soul than you are to yourself if you are not in harmony with the Spirit of God.”

The good news is you cannot outrun God. Being a runner doesn’t disqualify you from God’s grace. Be encouraged that you're not alone. The Bible is full of runners like Adam, Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon and too many more to name.

The God of the second chance

The LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."  Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Jonah 2:10 – 3:3

The thing is when you quit running you can’t get the time back when you ran. If you’re running, stop now. Ask God for help. Don’t waste your time running anymore, not another season. Run to Him now. His arms are always open to you. He’s ready to eagerly accept you and when you do you won’t regret it.

What Are You Running After Or From?

A pastor phoned the home of some recent visitors to his church, and a voice on the other end of the phone answered with a whispered “Hello.” The pastor said, “Who is this?” The whisperer said, “Jimmy.” The pastor said, “How old are you, Jimmy?” “Four.” “Well Jimmy, can I please speak to your mom?” “She’s busy.” “Well then, Jimmy, can I please speak to your dad?”

“He’s busy.’ “Jimmy, are there any other adults in your home?” “The police.”  “Can I speak to one of the police officers?” “They’re busy.” “Jimmy, who else is there?” “Firemen.”  “Well, Jimmy, can you put one of the firemen on the phone?” “They’re all busy.” “Jimmy, what are they all busy doing?” “They’re busy looking for me.”

Like Jimmy, some of us hide from family, bosses, relationships, the I.R.S. or perhaps even God. Maybe not intentionally, but most of us in our way have attempted to run from God. You know, like, I’m fine, I don’t need His help with my relationships, my finances or some other area of my life. Originally Adam and Eve had total intimacy with God and then one day Adam told God, “I was afraid and I hid.” Like Adam we think we can hide from God too.

What we want and what God wants can be two very different things. We might not say it, but maybe we think were smarter than Him or we can run away from Him. The truth is we’re all runners. We intentionally or unintentionally run from Him. Like Adam we run because we’re afraid. We’re fearful of the unknown. Fearful of painful circumstances. Fearful of rejection.  Fearful of consequences. Fearful to make a hard choice.

Jonah was a runner too. The Bible tells is that God directed Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to deliver a message, but Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. Jonah went 2,200 miles directly west from Nineveh to the most distant city in the known world at the edge of Spain.

When we run away from God we can run to the strangest places and regret our choices.
We might be unaware that we’re running from God, but when we do we leave the only source of wisdom and truth and our choices can haunt us later. Many of our poor choices can be traced back to running from God. We might be smart, but apart from God we’re likely to make ill informed decisions.

When we run away from God we turn our back on God’s unconditional love
we’ll look to other people to fill our love tank. So many of us spend an inordinate amount of time squeezing things out of people to get our needs met and that’s simply not helpful. Things begin to unravel.

When we run away from God we turn our back on God’s purpose for our lives. Ephesians 2:10
No matter how brilliant we are we’ll never experience God’s purpose for us until we’re following His ways and not our own.

When we run away from God we hurt the people around us.
Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” 

Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?"

He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so. The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"Jonah 1:1-11

We can run from God, but we’ll never outrun him.

"Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased."

Ironically, these unbelievers were more concerned about Jonah than he was about the people of Nineveh that God called him to.

Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him. But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.  Jonah 1:12-17 

The Lord will allow consequences you didn’t plan on it. When we experience painful consequences due to our own choices it is not because God is paying us back, but instead He is bringing us back to Himself.

Contemporary Christian artist Benny Hester once wrote, “I never saw God run until He ran to me and took me in His arms and held my head to His chest and said my son’s come home again.”

One day I realized I was running from God. Running to so many things that I thought would make me happy, but at the end of the day I was really running on empty. But thank God His grace brought me back to Himself. 

Maybe like me, you I realize you’re running from the only source of real hope and love. You can reach out to God and say, help me God, I’m tired of running. I don’t want to run anymore. I want to come home. You’ll be glad you did and all the angels in heaven will rejoice!

When There's No Way Out

What do you do when things seem impossible and there’s no way out and there’s no way you can go back?

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. Exodus 14:10

There was no way of escape and their backs were against the wall.
Like the Hebrews, when our backs are against the wall it can take our breath away. We worry and complain it’s just not fair and try to control or find some way out of our situation, but to no avail.

Some people believe that when they are faithfully following God He will keep them from trials and conflicts. If so, you would think that Paul during his great missionary journey to Rome would have been kept by God’s sovereignty from violent storms and his enemies.

Yet, just the opposite was true. Paul tells us, “we are hard pressed on every side, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed…we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.”
                                                                                                      2 Corinthians 4:8-9; 1:8

Paul endured beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights and hunger, poisonous snakes, shipwreck and narrowly escaped drowning by swimming to shore at Malta. .” Is this a God of infinite power? Yes.

Paul went on to say, “Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”
                                                                                                               2 Corinthians 1:9

Like Paul, could it be that God has orchestrated our circumstances?

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

The story continues… Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. Exodus 14:21

For Israel the real work of God was not when they awoke in the morning and found that they could get over the Red Sea; but it was ‘all that night’ that God was working on their behalf. There is great comfort in knowing that God works in the dark when we can’t see it and least expect it. God worked all that night for the Hebrews. The next day simply revealed what God had done during the night.

Are you in a place where life seems dark? “All that night the Lord drove back the see.” Do not forget that it was ‘all that night’ that God was working. With the enemy behind them and the sea in front of them that night seemed blacker and fearful than anything they had ever experienced before. That long night God’s weary children saw that God had been working all that night to make a path for their future.

You may not see it either, but God intimately knows your situation and is working ‘all that night stuff’ in your life for your future. Trust Him, He is worthy of it!

Feel Like Running Away?

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” Hagar answered. Continue reading…

After being utterly rejected and deeply mistreated by her mistress Sarah, Hagar’s broken heart drove her into the wilderness. Hagar had good reasons to feel angry, hurt and run away.

We’ve all been deeply wounded and our responses are all over the map.

When we’ve been utterly dejected it’s understandable to lash out or run away.


Whatever the circumstances of our wounding may be, blaming God or the people who have wounded us will get us no where. I understand the desire to run from people and situations, but not from God.

In my early twenties some my friends ran away to Hawaii and the Caribbean, but discovered their running away never really solved anything. It usually doesn’t. It just delays dealing with whatever or whomever you’re running from.

Many gather audiences to listen to their angry complaints and the outrage they feel for their offender? How long is the guest list for your pity party? Unfortunately, pity parties never result in authentic benefit or blessing, but only enlarge and intensify our wound by repeatedly exposing it.

It’s seems instinctive and so much easier to focus on our hurts or the offender. 
It’s about them not me. Let me prove my point and tell you what he or she did to me. Mistakes we’re made but not by me… We develop blind spots that can be easily seen by everyone… except ourselves.

If we’re stuck in this pity party mode for too long it can define us and become our MO.
Our default mechanism is to defensively rationalize our negative spirit and not take ownership for our own stuff. We can easily point out the character defects of others and set standards or expectations that we ourselves do not keep.

When we do this we unknowingly continue the cycle of wounding in our families and relationships. We know we need meaningful relationships, but we unintentionally push people away from us. Yes, come close, but go away… Unfortunately, this is reality for far too many.

Many take their wounded hearts and run away from the very people and places that can help them. We go to endless empty places and things to satisfy our deep longings, but no matter how far or how hard we may run, thankfully we can’t outrun God.

In the midst of her desperation Hagar ran right into God’s everlasting arms. God showed up in a place she least expected. There she met God. That’s where we meet God too, where we least expect. God is closer than you think.

In the wilderness God gave Hagar a hope and a promise for her future. Afterwards she declared, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

God sees you too. He is the ‘God who sees you’ and intimately knows and sees everything going on in your life. He sees your plans, your hard work, your compassion, your broken dreams, your disappointment, your sadness and your tears.

God sees your heart. He deeply cares about you and has a hope and future for you too. Do you believe that? Rather than running away from Him it’s far better to run to Him. Now, start running, it’s a brand new day.