It's Easy to Leave God, but Hard to Get Back to Him.

On our way to church a couple of Sundays ago, my dad said something that stuck with me. He said the words, "It's easy to leave God, but it's a lot harder to get back to Him." I thought about this, and I have found this to be true in my own life. There are many times that I fail God, and it seems to become harder every time that I sin against God to get back to the place I was before with Him. For a while, I'll do everything that I can for God, but then, I'll slowly make my way back to not praying and reading my Bible as much as I should. During the times that I serve God, I am at my happiest, but once I sway away from God, that happiness fades, and it becomes harder to worship God the way that I would like to.

Of course, we can repent for our sins, but that's not all we have to do to get back to where God wants us. We have to pray, pray, and pray to get back in the Lord's will. We have to read our Bibles and live right to get back where we were before. It's well worth the efforts, but it's much easier to continue on our path and not waver.


Isaiah 59:2 - "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid [his] face from you, that he will not hear."

When we let our sin get in-between us and God, God isn't going to hear us when we pray like He would if we are doing His will. For example, if you and your best friend are fighting. Say, your friend throws your phone down and stomps on it. Are you going to be okay with that, or is it going to take an apology and time to forgive? That friend is going to have to keep trying and trying to repair the relationship. The same is with God. When we sin, it hurts God, and although he is forgiving, it still takes repentance and efforts to repair that part of the relationship with God. It's not going to be instant, it's going to take time. We have to build back up to the relationship that we had with God, which can be harder than it sounds.

Psalms Chapter 1

"1. Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

When we walk for God, and put our sin in the past, we will be blessed for that. It is impossible to fully live for God if we still have sin in our lives. For example, I used to love to wear denim shorts that were much shorter than I should have been wearing. That was a problem for me in my spiritual walk with God. I still long to go back to the way that I lived before I began living for God sometimes because my flesh longs for that kind of life.

Having the strength to fight the sinful urges of the world is so important to God. When He sees our efforts to live for Him, we will be blessed for it. If we continuously make decisions in our lives that abide by God's law, that is when we are going to be at our happiness. Sure, sin can bring about happiness, but it's only temporary, and will only lead to a dark path. The effort to live for God is well worth it, for God is the greatest friend that we could ever know, and losing Him would be the worst thing that could ever happen to us.

God's Will

Being human, it's extremely hard to wait on God to move in our lives, instead of just going ahead and doing what we think we want for our lives. Sometimes, I feel like it would be easier if God didn't have a plan for us, and we were allowed to create our own plan. Though, if this was reality, I'm sure there would be a lot more unhappy people in the world. We don't know what is best for us in our lives. We can't see the future and see if how things will play out for the better. That's why, no matter how hard, we have to wait for our God in Heaven to guide us down the path that he has for us. He knows our likes, our dislikes, our ambitions, our hopes, our dreams, and He won't let us down with the plan that he has sewn together for us.

 I know that I fail at waiting for God's will every single day. There are so many dreams and things that I want to accomplish in my life, but the question is, is this what God wants for my life as well? How am I supposed to know what God wants? What happens to my own dreams?

My absolute dream is to move somewhere in Europe. I want to experience the culture and live independently. I want to meet new people and gain more knowledge. Sometimes, I want to go so bad, it makes me want to pull my hair out. I start to feel as if I will never get out of the area that I've lived my whole life. Unfortunately then, I get frustrated with God because I don't want to go if it's not God's will, but, I still really want to go. I question God by asking why He would want me to stay where I am and be partially happy, instead of allowing me to follow my dreams, so that I could be happier. But who am I to say if I would be happier somewhere else? I can't answer this question. Only God can. God could be setting up a way for me to move next month, or He could be opening up a great opportunity for me at the area I'm currently in. I simply can't rush God. He has a time set aside for every thing that is going to happen in my life. He is looking at my timeline right now, and seeing what I will be doing a minute from now, an hour from now, a month, year, ten years. He has it all under control, and I've just got to wait on Him. If I'm meant to move, I believe God will bring me happiness, if I'm meant to stay, I believe God will bring me happiness. God isn't God of dread, He is God of light.

My advice for anyone that is waiting for God to show you His will is to surround yourself with happiness. Read your Bible every day, talk to God, pray that He would show you His will for your life, find things that you love, try new things. Anything that is going to keep you happy. God isn't trying to make you unhappy by making you wait, God is making you stronger and preparing you for what He has in store for you. God wants you to become closer to Him by reading your Bible and talking with Him. He wants you to find things that you love in life; reading, basketball, video games, or whatever the case may be. Surround yourself with the things that make you happy, and God's will will play out before you know it.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." -Proverbs 3:5-6