For those of you that know me well, I'm not talking about Canada in my title. Just keep reading it will make sense in a minute.
I have two incredible children and one on the way, that I love dearly. Isaac is my first born. He will turn eight in March and is getting bigger and smarter everyday. I couldn't be more proud of the man he is going to be. He's a complete goofball that will do the craziest things in public with perfect comedic timing. The only problem is that my wife and I are the only people that get what he's doing so he just looks like the weird kid all the time. But I love that he doesn't care. He's my creative department. My wife is also expecting our third child, another boy who we are pretty sure will be named Judah. He's going to be my worship leader. And in the middle of these two boys is Kyla. My beautiful, soon to be four, little red headed spit-fire. Some father's build sports teams with their kids but I'm a pastor, so I'm building a church staff. Kyla is my Administrator. She makes sure everyone walks the line and if not, she punches them or sits on their head if their laying down. I'm not saying it's a great leadership style, but it seems effective so far. I'm pretty sure Isaac is scared of her.
This is not just a rant about my kids, I'm making a point here.
I have an office in the basement of our house. It's unfinished and there is no ceiling or insulation to filter out the noise from upstairs. With two kids and wood floors, you can imagine the noise that comes through. I started laughing the other day though, because I could hear Kyla moving back and forth from her room to the living room at the other end of the house. What made me laugh is that she never walks. She is this little burst of energy that runs everywhere! If she forgets something in her room, she goes running. If she has to go to the bathroom, she goes running. If she decides to change clothes (which happens a lot in one day), she goes running. If Isaac calls her, she goes running. If daddy comes home, you better believe she comes running. The only time she doesn't run is when she is told to do something she doesn't want to do. I know what all you parents are thinking, that's not uncommon. BUT, she doesn't just slow down. The other night she was told to get ready for bed. She comes out to say good night after changing into her pajamas looking very sad. She goes through her very, very, very lengthy good night routine that ends with her going limp in my arms like her spine has suddenly dissolved. Let's just cut to the chase here, after being threatened...she starts her journey back to bed. Only instead of running, or even walking, she lays on the floor and begins the most dramatic journey to bed I've ever witnessed. She is on her belly, reaching forward with her hands and pulling herself very slowly inch by inch. I fully expected the lights to dim, smoke and grenades to start going off and people to start calling to her "crawl sarge, you can make it!" It was one of those moments as a parent that you let happen, because it was too funny to stop it even though it was borderline rebellion.
Here comes my point. I do the same thing. No, I don't drag myself to bed. Heck, I almost took a picture of my mattress last night so I could post it as one the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. But I do it with God. I'm very quick to run after the things that I want in life. Unfortunately, those are not always the things that God wants for me and when He tries to correct my path...I drop to the ground and army crawl my way back. Somehow, I don't think it strikes God as funny when I do it though. I've been confronted with this a lot lately it seems. Not just in my own life, but watching people around make the same mistake. I see people run towards material things. They are quick to make financial decisions that they feel will make them happy only to find out it won't. I see people do it a lot in relationships. They run from one person to the next, thinking this is the one. Even going as far as to say, God brought this person into their life. Then a few weeks later it crumbles.
It happens when we are going through a tough spot in our lives. We run to things that we think will give us comfort. Or we run to places we think we can hide. For some, they run to alcohol or drugs. When some people struggle in the marriage, they run to another person. Some people hide behind the gym or shopping, thinking that if they look right everything will be right. Some people run back to their old life because this "new life" with Christ isn't what they thought it would be. There are those that run to negativity, bitterness, gossip, anger, hatred. Usually, that is all followed by running to Facebook.
Why do we run to these things? The only answer I could come up with is that it's because these things are comfortable to us. God wants us to go to places we don't want to go because we feel like we might be missing out on something. Isn't that why kids don't want to go to bed? They are pretty sure mom and dad are up having a party without them. Or maybe it's the fear of the unknown. We run to old patterns, and behaviors because it's what we know. To do anything else would require a lot of faith and trust. When we allow ourselves to be deceived into thinking that God doesn't have our best interest at heart we become reluctant to follow Him. At one time we were ready to run through a wall for Him, but now...we drop to our bellies and hope that if we take long enough to obey, maybe He'll forget what He asked us to do.
I had this conversation with my wife a couple weeks back after watching a friend of ours start another relationship with another person that was just like every other person they had dated. Every relationship has ended in heartbreak, but they want companionship so bad they run to the same type of person every time. A person that will use them, mistreat them, and eventually leave them. When we proposed the question of why would they continue to do this to themselves, the only solution we could come up with was because these were the people they were comfortable with. Because of their past, because of their situation, because of their own desires, they continue to settle for what they know they can get instead of waiting for what God could give. They are quick to run to a bad relationship and hope that it works out. But when God asks them to wait and trust Him, they drop to the ground like a 4 year old sent to bed early.
Here's a bad analogy, but it makes my title make sense. While Joy and I were talking about our friend's situation we were driving home. It was late, we were hungry, we didn't feel like waiting in a restaurant for good food. So we looked around and there glowing above the street to our left was a sign. A Taco Bell sign to be exact. We made a run for the border. And as we are driving and eating tacos (not an easy task by the way), we discussed why we run to what we know is bad for us. Then it hit me. It's kind of like eating at Taco Bell. You know it's not good for you, but you're hungry and you want something now that you know is going to fill you up. So you settle for something bad, because you don't want to wait for something good.
We need to stop running for the border in our lives. We need to run to the things of God. The plans he has for us.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Stop crawling around reluctant to follow directions. Run to God and He will open doors you never dreamed could be yours.
