Hey! Hi! I haven’t
been here in a while. Based on my last
post maybe you thought I left! Haha. I didn’t.
The truth is, my life is crazy. Did
you get a chance to read my About Me page?
That’ll explain some. Anyway,
I’m wrapping this little series up with this post and then I will be writing
about some new things. I hope you’ll
stay with me. To get to the beginning of this series START HERE
Not long ago I had a chance to talk with some friends at church that had left for a while.
Some things happened, they got hurt and they left. They tried to fill their need for a church by
going to other churches, both near and far away. While those churches were good and served
their people, there was none that made them feel like they were truly
home.
I grew up in the same house that my mom still lives in. I did not move around
much. My dad was in the military but his
duties didn’t require him to relocate as much as some of my friends'
families did. We lived in two places;
Germany and Colorado. We moved into our
home when I was seven years old, I went to the same elementary school, same middle school and same
high school. I watched many others move
in and out of our middle class, military dominate, neighborhood. We always stayed. There were times when I wanted to move, to
explore and make new friends. But it
wasn’t in the plans for me. I lived a
very stable, secure life. I knew
without a doubt that dinner was ready by 5:30 p.m. and I better not be
late. I knew that I was going to
graduate from the same high school that all of my siblings graduated
from. We were stable. We had our issues, but we were stable. Of course, I’ve moved from my parents'
house, but not very far. I married
someone who was born and raised in this city.
We raised our kids here. Some
might say I haven’t seen enough or experienced enough to write about the importance of staying in
the same place. But I know there is a stability
that comes with having the same home, the same routines, the same faces. It is for the most part a comfort, if you
will. It’s comforting to go to a familiar
place after you’ve been out dealing with the world. It goes back to that tree being planted by the water. That is where it's roots are. That is where it feeds and grows. Jeremiah 17:8 KJV They will be like a
tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does
not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no
worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
It's the stability, the comfort, that wanderers crave and are looking for. Such as this couple that I talked to. They craved a sense of home. They wanted that stability. Once you are stable then you are free to grow. You aren’t worried about where your next meal is coming from or where you are going to lay your head to rest. You know the routines. There is comfort in them.
It's the stability, the comfort, that wanderers crave and are looking for. Such as this couple that I talked to. They craved a sense of home. They wanted that stability. Once you are stable then you are free to grow. You aren’t worried about where your next meal is coming from or where you are going to lay your head to rest. You know the routines. There is comfort in them.
They told me they wanted to come back but were afraid of
how people would react. They didn’t know
if they would be accepted. I thought
this was so sad. Afraid to come back to a house of God, where
your church family is. Afraid of what
people are going to say or do. They
knew the part they played in leaving, and they sought forgiveness from
God. They knew they had to come seeking
forgiveness from whomever they hurt when they were here before. Or did they?
A lot of times the things that happen are conceived in our own
minds. We let our thoughts runaway with
the accusations of the evil one. The
enemy certainly doesn’t want us to return to a place where we’ll grow in God
and do mighty works for Him. He was the one to convince us to leave in the
first place. They said, "it was with a lot of
prayer, we decided to come back." And much to their relief, they were greeted
with open arms. Thank God.
So how do we react when people that have left come back
again? How do we hold our own heads up
when we see them? I’ll tell you that
the angels in heaven rejoice when even one returns. Luke 15:10
“likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner who repents.” Am I
saying they’re sinners? Good grief, we
all are. And yes, it is a sin to be out
of the will of God. If the angels are
rejoicing when people come back to church, so should we! I have honestly heard someone say “Look who’s
here. I don’t want what they’ve got,” as they referred to a person who had been away from church for a while. I have also
heard someone else flat out ask a returning family member, “what are you doing here?” I was
so grieved. Imagine for a moment that
you’ve had a fight with your family and left.
Maybe you stayed away too long and it took a lot of courage for you to
come back. To seek forgiveness. What if when you came back you were turned
away? Or met with such comments? The prodigal son was not turned away by his
father. In fact, just as the angels
rejoiced in heaven, the father threw a party for his son. He was so happy to see him.
God is bringing people back to him. To His church. We will be playing a part in that. Are we going to belittle, or shame
people? Are we going to reject them and
turn them away? Or are we going to love
them and help them make it for God.
When the day comes, are we going to be able to stand before God and say
I loved people the way you wanted me to, no matter where they’ve been or what
they’ve done? That is the question we
must ask ourselves.