Stuck

Gimli loves to sit up on the back of our chair, but sometimes he finds himself in a precarious situation. Slowly he will slide between the cushion and the back of the chair and can't get himself out. At first he doesn't mind because this is actually pretty comfortable for a while. But when it's time to go outside or eat dinner, he realizes his predicament: he's stuck.

Sometimes, I feel stuck in my relationship with God. It usually happens slowly- Life happens, I get busy, I get preoccupied, and then before I know it, months have gone by without me truly connecting with God. I feel distant from Him, His voice feels silent. I find myself thinking and doing things that I know are not honoring to Christ, yet I fall into it more easily than usual. When I finally do try to pray, I am filled with guilt over the time that has passed since I last spent time with Him. I don't know what to say. The enemy tempts me to hide in shame. He whispers in my ear, "God doesn't want to talk to you. You haven't prayed in how long? Wow, that's bad. You're obviously a pretty lousy Christian. He's so disappointed in you."  Sometimes I believe him. Sometimes I give in to this lie about God's character. I hide from God in shame and embarrassment over my sin. The cycle continues- I am stuck.

There is only way to get out of this shame pit: Truth. The truth is that God is not disappointed in me. He longs to spend time with me because He loves me. He isn't waiting in anger for me to pray or read my Bible. When I pray, He isn't thinking, "Took you long enough." He's thinking- "I'm so glad to spend time with you!"  The truth is, no matter what is going on in my life, no matter what sin I am struggling with, the best thing for me to do always is to seek the Lord and spend time with Him. His love for me is not dependent on how good of a Christian I am. He loves me because He loves me.

He pulls me out of the pit I'm stuck in by reminding me how much He loves me. I never have to be stuck again because Jesus died so that I can be reconciled to God forever. I never have to hide in shame because my sin has been forever taken care of.  What a glorious truth! 

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39