I was thinking of writing a blog on avoidance recently and God gave me great content last night as I had someone who successfully avoided me and then I avoided someone else I did not want to talk to.
You may gasp in awe that I said that out loud but you know you’ve all been there. You see someone in the aisle at the grocery store that you don’t want to talk to so you turn around and go the other way. Maybe it’s someone you have had a relationship with that ended badly or someone who is on the other side of a public policy issue you were vocal about or maybe it’s just the chatty neighbor and you don’t have time to talk.
Whatever the issue, I would be very surprised if you have not fallen prey to the “avoidance strategy” as well. And before you get too smug about it, I’m sure someone has avoided you in the same manner whether you caught them or not.
Are you playing the “avoidance strategy” game with God? Do you keep seeing Him in the little things and choose not to recognize Him? Are you avoiding going to church because you don’t want to feel guilty but you use “people will judge me” as an excuse? Are you avoiding having a relationship with Christ because you will not be able to live the non-Christ-like life you enjoy? Are you avoiding doing the thing God is calling you to do?
He’s seeking us. It’s time for us to stop avoiding Him. One day it’s gonna happen. We are going to have to face Him. There we will be face to face with our Creator in heaven’s grocery aisle having to answer for the reasons we have lived the way we have lived and why we avoided Him and ignored His guidance. At that point our eternity will be given out. It cannot be avoided. We will be at the end looking back at our choice to have lived for heaven or lived for hell. Don’t avoid Christ on earth and end up avoiding Heaven for eternity.
For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son to die a horrible death that whoever will believe in Him shall not perish in hell but will have everlasting life in heaven. John 3:16 [paraphrased]
He loves us no matter what we have done or are currently doing. He will forgive it all. Nothing is too big to be forgiven. He wants us just as we are. Let’s stop avoiding Him and start running to Him.
