run to the Father.

today we're reading Lamentations 3:19-24

read today's text

My biggest struggles in my faith came when I stopped seeing God as my Father and started seeing Him as my ATM. I would expect God to give me whatever I wanted whenever I wanted rather than looking to Him for guidance, comfort, and healing. In times where I didn't struggle it was easy to look to God as the Giver of all things good, but when things went sour it was like He wasn't for me anymore.
I still remember the first time this happened. It was right after my grandfather had passed away. He died due to medical complications from an amputation he had just received. Every day after he passed, I was angry at God because I knew that if He had sent a plane or a way for my grandfather to get to the U.S., my grandpa would still be here today. I was furious. The God I had surrendered myself to had, in my eyes, betrayed my best interests. From then on, I started to see God as the magic genie from Aladdin. I would ask God for things in my life that would satisfy my desires and my wants and make me seem 'cool' but then never lean on Him for guidance when He didn't grant them to me. It became hard to pray, hard to praise the Lord, and hard to rely on Him in a time that I truthfully needed Him the most. 
Times like this came again and again to the point where I didn't think I could love the Lord as much as I did before all of this loss began. ​

I think that as Christians we have a good time celebrating coming back to Christ, but we don't talk about the time we spent away from Him. ​

After seeking to come back to the Lord in fullness, I spent a lot of time repenting but repenting to the point where I began to self-loathe rather than glorify God. I began to think of myself as so unworthy that I didn't think that God would ever want to pursue a relationship with me. 
If this has ever been you, if this is you right now: hear these two words.  
The first being this:
Your sins and shortcomings do not define you, God does. 
Your sins and shortcomings do not define you, God does. 
Isaiah 43:1 says "But now, this is what the Lord says - he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."
I know that it may seem that you are  unworthy of a relationship with God but you, through the blood of Jesus Christ and the mercy of God, are a child of the King. ​

You are ROYALTY. ​​

Not only are you royalty, but 1 Corinthians 5:17 says this:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here!"
Read that. 
Hear that. 
Remember that. 
The second is important, so read this intentionally:
No person on earth has the right nor the authority to tell you that you do not have a place in the Kingdom of God. 
The God that created every single molecule in this universe, the God that knows how many hairs you have on your head, the God that knows the exact temperature of water you like, the God that formed you in your mother's womb is a God that wants you with Him.
He is a God that has made a way for you to be with Him eternally. 
​He is a God that has literally prepared a space for you in His kingdom. 
He is a God that has found you, called you by name, and loves you more than we can fathom.
No matter the battles you've gone through, no matter the hateful words you've spewed at Him, no matter the countless sins you've committed: He still runs after you.  
If you've been told that you are incapable of achieving a relationship with God by any person on this earth, take those words out of your mind. 
​They're wrong.
There's a song by Cody Carnes called Run To The Father that has these lyrics in it:

My heart has been in Your sights long before my first breath
Running into Your arms is running to life from death
And I feel this rush deep in my chest, Your mercy is calling out
Just as I am You pull me in and I know I need You now
I run to the Father, I fall into grace
I'm done with the hiding, no reason to wait
My heart needs a surgeon, my soul needs a friend
So I'll run to the Father again and again and again and again

The intentionality of the God we serve is one like none other.
The love of the God we serve is one like none other. 
The coolest thing about the Lord is that He not only hears and sees us, He came down to Earth to live the life we live. He knows your struggles. He knows your pain. He knows your suffering. 
You're not alone. 
If you're ready to run to the Father, do it. 
If you're scared to run to the Father, know that He's waiting for you with open arms.
If you're unsure about running to the Father, know that He's waiting for you with open arms.
If you're ashamed about running to the Father, know that He still wants you back in His arms. 
If you want to talk about your journey with the Lord, if you want to pray about your journey with the Lord, if you're looking for someone to chat with about how to find Jesus: I'm here. 
I know what it's like to feel like there's no way that God will love me. 
And yet He surprises me every day with His unbounding love. ​