Coming Back When You’ve Been Far Away

by John Paul Jackson

Returning to something, to anything, can be a very difficult endeavor. For instance, making a marriage work again after it’s been split by an affair will not happen unless God grants a miracle. That type of return is as difficult as Jesus’ example of the camel passing through the needle’s eye. It is difficult — though not impossible with God. In a similar way, returning to re-engage an estranged friend can stir old wounds, but it is the one sure way to return to love, trust and deep emotional satisfaction. Anything left unresolved keeps our heart in chains; we know this is true because each time we think of that person, we feel the chains of panic rattling. The act of returning forces you to look at things you might not want to look at. It is mentally difficult to cross the same roads again. Yet, depending on the situation, returning can save your life. Returning to God can be a difficult thing as well. Through the natural turn of everyday life, we build up walls. We get used to things being a certain way. Our comfort zone becomes lined with fear, and those fears must be crossed in order for us to know our First Love again. We have to admit that maybe we were wrong. We have to let go of what we’ve thought was right in order to accept what God thinks is right, and it could be different than what we had in mind. It could hurt. But returning is so important! Nothing we do in life could be as good as this, what you’re doing right now: spending time with Jesus. Nothing will give you such a rich and beautiful return. Nothing is worth as much as this is worth. Nothing is as great an investment as this. Everything that God has done, He has done to touch your heart. Why was the tabernacle built in the wilderness? Why did Jesus come to earth? Because God desires to be with us! He desires to dwell among us. Read the Bible with that thought in mind and be shocked at what you see — a God who loves you. Passionately. Forever. Exquisitely. Perfectly. Right now. Tomorrow. Yesterday. Nothing could compare to this. Nothing else could even glance at this union without losing its eyesight forever. That’s how special this is. That’s how important and life changing this is. So, no matter where you are on this road, no matter how long it’s been since you’ve sat on your Father’s lap, in His arms, listened to His voice, heard the beat of His heart, felt Him play with you — come back. Return. It’s getting to be spring now, depending on where you live in the world. This is the time people return. This is the time people fall in love again. Perhaps you need to return to something. Can you hear God whispering that to your heart?Return. Take that step. Make that choice. You will never, ever, ever regret doing so. That is God’s promise, not mine.