Drifting

It seems like no one wakes up one day and decides to turn away from God. You don't just make a conscious decision and then turn your back on him. Rather, it is more like a drifting. You float about in the water and might at first be very near to God. Perhaps the miraculous workings of God's hand in your life are still very fresh and real. Perhaps you are gazing in awe at how incredible God is, but then something happens. Or rather, nothing happens. The current catches you in the water and pulls you slowly out to see. Its not a sudden tug, but a gentle drifting. God stops revealing himself in blatantly obvious ways.

What do we do when God leaves us to walk by faith? Those times come for everyone. God stops drawing us in with fireworks and lights, and we're left to remember and to hope. Remember what God did to draw us near to him, and find rest in the hope that he is ever present even when the shadows of this world seem to hide him from our direct line of sight.

We must be careful not to drift away. For some reason it is easy to turn the things of God into the mundane and boring. Without realizing it, we look away and we forget. We fail to remember, and we fail to hope. And then suddenly we open our eyes and realize that God is nowhere to be seen. Did we lose him? Did he lose us? No. He's still there waiting, but now we're off at sea somewhere. What are we to do in those moments? What do we do when God's signs to us grow distant and blurred?

Sometimes we let ourselves drift out too far, and maybe it seems like we've strayed too far away to ever regain that closeness to God. Don't worry. He is still there. He stands firm like a rock amidst stormy waters, and no matter how far out we seem to drift God is still about us, longing to take us in and offer us his protection. God has given us salvation through Jesus, and we must pay attention to where we are at. We must make a conscious effort not to forget it, lest we find ourselves out at sea having drifted away from the place we once were.

"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will." Hebrews 2:1-4