He Is Still There

“Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.  But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.” (2Ch 15:3-4 AV)

These words were from the prophet to King Asa of Judah.  Of Israel, the prophet refers to the ten tribes.  Not the entire nation as a whole.  His point to the king was God’s grace extends even to those who have long since forgotten Him.  He will shed His mercy on those who have turned their back on Him for generations as long as they repent and turn back.  This is the hope of all who call upon the name of Jesus.  There is no place where God will not come to rescue His wandering children.  Even the prodigal was not without hope.  Israel had left God for generations.  If I am not mistaken, these words were penned three generations after the split.  For over one hundred years, the north had abandoned worship in Jerusalem and had worshiped golden calves set up in Bethel and Dan.  They had removed all the Levitical priests from their territory and set up priests of the lowest of the people.  They had, for a long time, turned their backs on God.  Yet God, because of their repentance, met with them again.  What an encouragement for those who have fallen away.  God has never changed and is still there to welcome you back.

Many times I have had to sit down with parents whose children have left the church and left the faith.  They are no longer practicing Christians.   They live as though they have never received Christ and their baptism was meaningless.  They went to Sunday school, attended Christian school, and never seemed to give their parents any problems.  Yet once they leave the home, they lose all interest in the faith in which they were raised.  These distraught parents beat themselves up and place the entire blame for their children’s apathy on poor parenting.  Perhaps some things contributed to their children leaving the church.  Perhaps not.  There is one thing for sure.  These children have wills of their own and even the most successful parent can lose a child.  There are no guarantees where free will is involved.  The tormented parents often give up hope.  But there is no reason to.  More times than not, if the child is genuinely saved, he or she will return.  It may take almost an entire lifetime, but they will.  And the beautiful thing about it is when God and the church welcome them back with open arms.

When I read these verses above, I could not help but remember the times I was not perfectly walking with God.  There were times in my life when I was not as close to God as I should have been.  There were times when my flesh ruled the day.  Everyday.  There were times when I went through the motions and the Spirit was not the active influence in my life.  These times could last a long time.  Yet, one constant remained.  When I repented and sought the LORD with my whole heart, He was there.  When I forsook my sin and returned with a humble heart, He was always ready to forgive and reconcile.  We serve a great and loving God who will always welcome back His erring child.  No sin could separate us from the love of God.  God has never moved.  We have.  All we need to do is confess and forsake.  He will bring us back.

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