The Runaway

When I was younger I thought a couple of times of running away, in fact, even though I never officially ran away but I have run and a lot in my life. While I do actually, literally run, that isn’t what I mean. There have been times of pain, times of rebellion, times of anger, times of…just being stubborn that have led me to run from numerous thing. Some of those matters are serious, some…not so much. They may be as simple as a phone call, other times, something that has haunted me.

The funny thing about running away is, often nothing gets resolved. Sometimes, there is no resolution no matter how hard you try. Sometimes there is resolution no matter how much you don’t want it. Sometimes, because you run, there is resolution because you run but is it the best resolution?

I have known a few people in my life who were runaway’s. Some were the traditional runaway’s, others, more of the figurative runaway. People run away from everything from parents, to school, to work, to God, to phone calls, and even from the doctor. If you run from a doctor, usually it ends up killing you…or doing more harm than necessary. If you run from a phone call, the matter is usually never resolved. If you run from God, there are a whole host of ways that could end up. You may end up like Jonah, and really who wants that?

I say all of this because; as I stated, I have found that I run a lot. I have found that I am so afraid of failing, that I often talk myself out of even trying. Yet, I feel as though God has some big things for me to accomplish.

Quite a predicament…

I still judge success by the world’s standard and not by a spiritual standard. I still have to talk myself down if I feel like I didn’t deliver, I still have to ask myself, “It may not seem like a success, but is it what God wanted?” Can I live my life in a way that doesn’t care if man thinks I succeed but I do well by God’s standards? I certainly hope so.

Ancient Hebrew scripture speaks of several runaway’s. Jacob was one, he became blessed beyond belief and yet he was scared to death of going back to what he ran away from. Jonah ran away, but God reeled him back in, and reeled him back in hard. Moses ran away, and yet God sent him right back to where he came from to free His people. Joseph was a kind of forced runaway, and yet he ended up facing those who forced him out. David had to runaway for a time, but came back and took the throne at the right time. There are numerous others, but the point is…whatever you are running from, are you willing to face it if God calls you to?

It isn’t about your fear; it is about your willingness to face your fear if that is what God calls you to.

We all have fear, I can guarantee that, the hope is that we don’t always runaway. There is a time to run; there is also a time to face our fears. I don’t want to come across as arrogant, because I know some of our fears are harder to face than others. I don’t want to minimalize that, but I also don’t want some of us to keep running, when maybe…just maybe, God is telling us, “it is time.”

Something to ponder…God bless.