Did you ever hear a story that just hit you in a deep place?  This week a dear friend and I were texting.  This is part of her text:

“It was September.  Lizzy [their natural-born  4-year-old daughter] had died in June. I needed to pick the older kids up from school but when I headed down the driveway, a big semi-truck was blocking the road.  The one thing I HAD to do was take care of my children and now I couldn’t even do that.   I just stopped the car at end of the driveway, put my head on the steering wheel and began to weep. Between my tears, I said, “ What am I going to do now?”😢  Jonathan [an adopted son], 3 1/2, and Tim [another adopted son], 4, were in the back seat.  Tim said, “I know. Pray.” Jonathan reached over and hit him and said, “I want to pray!” So he prayed, “ God, HELP, HELP, HELP!”  We call it the C_____[family last name] Prayer as we have so many needs that only God can help.❤️🙏😊 “ 
My note:  Jonathan is now 34 and is still praying.  Tim has joined Lizzy in Heaven. 

About 10 years ago, our pastor where we then lived said something I’ll never forget.  He said that many Christians are practical atheists.  They say they believe and even attend church on Sunday but Monday through Saturday they exclude the Lord from their lives.  They don’t give him a thought all week long.  Yesterday our pastor where we now live said that pride is basically being preoccupied with self.  If we’re thinking of ourselves all the time, how can we be thinking about God?  Ouch!  That hit a nerve.  So if we’re thinking of ourselves first, can God be first in our lives?  How do these two pastor’s statements relate to you and me?

Throughout the Scriptures, God pleads with his people to come close to him.  We have a tendency to think that because we aren’t ‘big’ sinners who outright rebel against God, we really don’t need to come back to God like those who deliberately turned their back on him.  But what if it isn’t just blatant rebels who need to return to God?  What if it’s we who in everyday ways are too busy thinking of ourselves to invite the Lord into our daily moments and act like atheists for hours a day?  What if we’re depending on others, or on our own resources, or on our creativity to solve our problems instead of depending on God?  What if self-centeredness is keeping us away from God?  Maybe we, also, need to return hourly to the God who graciously invites us close. But if we constantly slip back into fixing our problems our own way, won’t God eventually run out of patience with us?  Not as long as we keep coming back and admitting we need him!  Here’s what God said to his dearly loved people in a precious Old Testament story:

“Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord.
Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.  [So that we’ll lift God up instead of ourselves, thanking him for his grace]
Assyria cannot save us, [Others can’t give us all we need]
nor can our warhorses. [Our own resources aren’t enough]
Never again will we say to the idols we have made, [Our creativity can’t invent solutions that are enough]
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone
do the orphans find mercy.”  {Only God offers kindness to the helpless]
The Lord says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;  [I will help you stay close]
my love will know no bounds,  [I will love you beyond what you imagine]
for my anger will be gone forever.
I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.

“O Israel, stay away from idols!  [He knows we slip back all the time, so he encourages us to keep depending on him]
I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green;
all your fruit comes from me.” [he sustains us and is the source of every good thing]

Let those who are wise understand these things.
Let those with discernment listen carefully.  [We’re wise and discerning when we stay close to the Lord]
The paths of the Lord are true and right,
    and righteous people live by walking in them.  [Walking with God brings life to the full]
But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.”  Hosea 11

Let’s talk to God often in our day-to-day lives about our heartaches, and our problems, thanking him for our joys, and our many blessings.  Let’s stay in his paths by obeying him.  He is always quick to give us mercy and unfailing love.

“Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.”  Joel 2:13