God Doesn’t Leave

God is always there. He is never not around us. He has never left us and He will never leave us. We continually takes steps away from Him and what He is leading us to do. Meanwhile, we ask Him why we are being hurt. We have been granted freewill. This means that God gives us the opportunity every day to make choices. He does this to test our hearts. And even though we constantly make mistakes and choose things that hurt us, He will never leave us. No matter what choice we go with at the crossroad, He is on the other end waiting for us. Whether we go painfully or willingly, He is always there for us. Even when we decide to take the more difficult path, He walks with us, and waits for us to see Him there. God is not like the people around us. His Word is true. When He says something, He means it. Nothing is hidden in His Word. What He says is what He means. We, as people, are the ones who put hidden messages in our words. Or we put conditions on our commitments. We go back on what we say to each other. God does not do this to us. If He says He loves us unconditionally, you better believe that there is not one condition involved behind that statement. Words are important to Him. The words He says are everlasting and never fading. They are living, and He uses them to fit in our lives- sometimes the same Scripture means something different at a different stage of our life. That doesn’t change the meaning of the Scripture. It changes what it means to us in the moment. His love is not something that changes. We need to stop comparing Him to the people around us. He doesn’t operate the way we do. We hurt each other- He wants to heal us. Just because someone that we trusted hurt us, doesn’t mean that God will do the same. Think of it this way, what if God pushed us aside every time we did something against Him? Does He not forgive us every time? Does He love us less every time we hurt Him? Obviously, the answer to both questions is, no. He tells us to be like Jesus, but, when someone hurts us, do we act the way Jesus does towards us, towards that person? Or do we push that person away and hold on to the pain that they caused? This is one of the hardest lessons to learn and to put into practice.

As humans we hold on to pain. Especially onto pain from someone that we trusted. We may say we forgive them, but in the back of our mind, we have a place where we hold some of or most of that pain. In doing this, we grow a root without even realizing it sometimes. This is so dangerous. A root of unforgiveness will grow into a tree of despair. For you. Not only will you be holding pain against someone else, but you will also begin to mistreat them, sometimes unintentionally, and it can overrun to others that don’t even deserve it. Forgiveness is not to free the other person, it’s to keep you free. The chains of unforgiveness will weigh you down so heavily. The more you bury it, the tighter the chains become. This is the grip of the enemy, not the freedom of Jesus. The enemy will keep growing his fruitless tree in our lives the longer we hold onto our pain and unforgiveness towards others. How many families have been broken apart because of unforgiveness? This pains our Father’s heart. He doesn’t want to see His children hurt each other. Or His children hurt themselves. If we could see situations through God’s perspective, we would most likely realize that the pain we hold on to was not worth the amount of time and effort we put into it. There are so many other situations that need our attention, but we allow our emotions and thoughts to be focused on how we feel instead of the whole picture, and how each person in the situation feels.

When He says He will never leave us, He means just that. People say that to each other all the time. When life gets difficult, or someone makes a poor decision, we tend to leave them or put a wall up towards them. As if we have never done anything wrong. People will always disappoint you. People make mistakes daily. But God will never disappoint you. He is true to His Word and His promises. When He says “never will I leave you nor will I forsake you”, He will stand by you your entire life and make sure He is there for you no matter what obstacle you go through. He wants you to come home. Remember this, God forgives you daily, whether big or small. We need to also remember, that although we may not understand why someone does something, that it’s their walk with God. Others walks can affect ours as well, but when we look in our own mirror, we need to be honest with ourselves and know that, we too, have tripped other’s on their walks as well. Compassion is different from understanding. We do not always need to understand why someone hurts us, but we can have compassion towards them, knowing that we too have sins that caused the nails on the cross. What you do on your walk is not going to be the same as what someone else does on theirs. Our brains work different, but, we should all have a heart that can give compassion towards one another. Before we allow our emotions to over take us during a situation, we need to step back and look at the person and their pain. Not to say that the sin is justified, but, the person’s pain may be understandable. God understands us and how hard our days and choices can be. We need to see the light and love that each person holds. Not identify them by their mistakes. Love more, give compassion and pick each other up when we fall. God does this for us every day.

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

“10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 11 “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. 12 Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them.Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. 13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:10-13