Running from God

Hi standers! It's Monday once again. Here's another devotional written by Ben from Texas. Stay encouraged!

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Think about it. Running from God! Strange as it sounds, many people try to run from God. We can run away from our homes, run away from our friends, run from an accident, run away from the army or even from a murder or robbery, but run away from God? There are so many scenarios dealing with running, both physical and emotional. But run away from God? God, our Creator; God, our Heavenly Father; God, our Provider; God, our best friend.

God knows all and sees all. Where can we hide? Andy Stanley, in a recent message, made this statement: "You can run from God but you cannot outrun God!" Who do we think we are fooling as we turn our backs on God and our spouse and walk/run away from our marriages? Didn’t we promise before God and our spouse to be faithful to our covenant vows until parted by death? Yet now that sacred vow is broken, that covenant spoken before God on our wedding day. God does not violate this covenant; our spouse does! And so as they break covenant, leaving the marriage, they are running from God and you and I. Little do they realize that in the heat of the moment, they cannot outrun God.

When we look to Scripture, the most famous runner was Jonah. He was a prophet who ministered from 800-750 B.C. in the northern kingdom of Israel.

"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. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish."  Jonah 1:1-3 (NLT)

Notice the wording..."But Jonah...went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord...hoping to escape from the Lord..." Jonah was obviously not thinking straight, thinking that he could outrun God. After all, in that day and time, Tarshish and Nineveh were basically at the opposite ends of the known world. Perhaps he could get lost in that far away city, dropping out of sight. But remember what is stated above...you can run from God but you cannot outrun God. In Jonah’s fear of the Ninevites, his thinking was scrambled.

We know the story of the terrible storm at sea that threatened to sink Jonah’s ship. The sailors questioned Jonah...

"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.) Jonah 1:10 (NIV)

Is this not the same thing that happens when our prodigal spouse runs out on our marriage? Here our prodigal spouse runs not only from you and I, but they are also running from God. While we may not know our prodigal’s whereabouts, God does and they cannot hide from Him.

In the New Testament, the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 tells a slightly different story in that the son wished to go live his life on his own terms. He was running away from his father's control. Circumstances were such that when his situation deteriorated, he returned home to his father. Here the father figure is God, and the prodigal son is mankind.

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you...’” “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” Luke 15:17-18, 20 (NLT)

In these two stories we can see our prodigal spouse...running from a relationship, from authority, from a promise...running from God. Yet in the story of the Prodigal Son, we see the redemption that awaits our prodigal spouse as they return home to their covenant vows taken before God and before you and I. And as God offers forgiveness to the prodigal, we likewise must offer forgiveness to our prodigal spouse.

We often hear the stories from returned prodigals of the miserable situations they lived under while "on the run." Remember: "You can run from God but you cannot outrun God." He will find the prodigal and, with love, re-direct them home to their loving, standing spouse.

So I say...stand firm for your covenant marriage vows! God will honor your stand.