When I made the choice to be a Jesus follower something crazy happened. In my heart, in my soul and in my mind there was a new sign that was hung up. It said "Under new Ownership". It was no longer about me. Transform my thoughts to yours Jesus. Teach me to be like you. I don't want to do anything that does not reflect who You are God. Every part of me - make it yours. It wasn't that every part of me changed, but every part of me changed. I started the process of becoming the woman that God created me to be. His. It is scary sometimes. I don't always know what's next. It's an adventure that I get to discover a bit more each day.
Just like Woody, sometimes I can get separated from my owner. Sometimes life just happens. Sometimes I make the choice to step into sin and out of God's plan. Sometimes things get crazy, my relationship with my heavenly Daddy gets pushed to the back burner. His voice that I use to hear so clearly becomes very quiet and far away.
But my story is different than Woody's. "It is by grace through faith you have been saved - and it is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God. Not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph 2:8-9). I couldn't earn my salvation in the first place; I cannot earn my way back into relationship with God either. There are obstacles in my path. There are forces that work to keep us apart. But God doesn't say to me "fix yourself up, start doing the right thing and then we will talk." God doesn't say to me, "I will meet you half way". God says "seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart" (Jer 29:12-13).
God's first plan has always been for the restoration of our relationship.
Like the father of the protocol son, He waits for me to come back to my senses.
Lesson #2 ~ God's not waiting for me to fix myself back up and work really hard to re-find Him. He's waiting for me to stop, turn around, and once again take His hand.
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