Are you having a day where you really want to run away?

Here's our new Precious Prodigal post for July 14, 2014: Are you having a day where you really want to run away? #tiredofthiscraziness Please "Share" post using this "ShortLink" = http://bit.ly/1

Psalm 139:7 “…whither shall I flee from thy presence?”

My 20-year-old granddaughter recently said she wanted to “run away,” at least at the moment. I smiled, but I could certainly understand because I’ve been there myself and recently. You probably have too. Sometimes this world and the hurts we suffer, especially those of us who love a prodigal, can make us want to just pack it in and go somewhere else.

You’ve been doing the next right thing and using all the tools that are available to you. You’ve prayed, you’ve forgiven, you’ve continued to hope and refused to quit on that one who’s breaking your heart.

You’ve been consistent about doing those things, but it seems like this has gone on forever, you see no resolution, and you’re exhausted. Sure you are, and so are all the others I’ve known who have walked a path like ours…at least sometimes, including me. What then?

Elijah was one of the greatest Old Testament prophets...a powerful, courageous and faithful man of God. But 1 Kings 19 tells about another side of Elijah…about his fear, exhaustion, and discouragement. This is Elijah…God’s own spokesman? Yes. While some may wonder why such a man could feel defeated, those of us who have walked a hard path day after day understand it completely.

Elijah had seen great victories, but great victories for God didn’t change the fact that Elijah had a broken heart. There he sat under a juniper tree, completely defeated. I can’t help but identify with him when he told God, “…it is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life…” (1 Kings 19:4) Can you identify with him too? He was finished…at least for the moment.

Making a stand for the Lord and for what’s right and even having a great victory didn’t mean he wasn’t grieving. Those victories and that stand had nothing to do with the broken heart Elijah had over wayward Israel. He was frightened, he was discouraged, and he thought he was alone.

So Elijah decided to run away. There were several problems with that, not the least of which is that he couldn’t run away from God’s presence or God’s plan. (Ps. 139:7) And neither can we. In Psalm 139, David said if he ascended into heaven or went down into hell, God was there. God was there in the darkness, in the “wings of the morning” and in the depths of the sea.”

He was and is everywhere. But God isn’t there just to watch us in our wilderness experience. The psalmist said it beautifully, “Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:10)

No matter how terrible our circumstances, no matter whether we run as fast and as far as we can…physically, emotionally, or spiritually…God is going to be there, leading us and holding us with His own right hand.

The other thing that makes “running away” such a waste of time is what I told my sweet granddaughter: “Wherever I go, there I am.” Because, you see, the only “constant” in all the problems I have seems to be me.

God’s plan for our life is to conform us into the image of His own dear Son. And He’s going to do that whether we run away or not. So maybe “running away” instead of facing our problems head on is another thing we need to lay aside.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, choose to face your situation instead of running away?