Moving

My oldest daughter Rachel, is moving. Probably by the time this is posted, she may very well be on her way; she, my son-in-law Jake, and my 2-year-old grandson Abraham. They will be a whole nine hours away, from Illinois to Louisiana away. Of course, Abe says he’s moving to “a hotel in ‘Inn-ee-anna'” (He can’t say Louisiana…he’s two).

Moving really isn’t so bad, I guess. This move is a good thing for them. And while I haven’t said a whole lot about the move, am very proud of them. I have also tried to be positive for my daughter, supportive, and helpful. Because this is the furthest away she will ever have been from her family. So, while I was thinking about this (it happens to be after midnight as I write this so…), I wondered; Is this how God feels when His kids “move” away from Him?

Rachel, Jake, and Abe will still be my kids. They will always be my kids. They just won’t be close to me anymore (they currently live right next door). But this won’t be forever. On the same note, WE are God’s kids. We will ALWAYS be God’s kids. And many times we just aren’t close to Him. But that doesn’t last. And nothing we do will ever cause us NOT to be God’s kids!

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:38-39, NLT (emphasis added)

You know, when we MOVE away from the presence of God, it doesn’t mean that we no longer belong to Him. It just means that our focus has been MOVED to something else. And it’s like a big, dark cloud moves between us and Him, blocking out the warmth, the love, and the joy He gives us. And as long as we keep ourselves turned away from Him, that cloud follows us wherever we go.But it is really easy to get back into the swing of things with God. He made a very simple way for us to do it. 

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ~1 John 1:9, NLT

We often make it harder than what it is, though. We hem-haw around, worry, fret, listen to the opinions of others, and think we have to perform certain tasks in order to win God’s favor back.

BUT WE DON’T!

You see, with God all we have to do is ask! He’s always there. Always waiting. Always willing to forgive. And always willing to MOVE us back into His loving arms. When we move back to Him, He blows that cloud of darkness away and the warmth, love, and joy all come back! It never really left. But because we moved, we no longer felt it.

Have you moved lately? Is there something between you and God? Because if there is, you can easily move it and move back into His loving arms. The ones that never moved. The arms that have never changed, never stopped watching the one that He loves. Don’t you think it’s time you moved back?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ~Hebrews 13:8, NLT

My daughter may be moving. But I’ll always be her mom. I’ll always love her and support her. And I’ll always be there for her… just like God is always there for you and me.