God is the giver and our source of life, and because He is, then He has a legitimate right to lay claim to our lives.  Yes, He does, and because He does, He also has the authority to expect us, His children, to remain faithful and loyal.

• Maybe you know someone who once professed to be a child of God, but who no longer follows Him, who has drifted away, as though he is on a raft, drifting out to sea.  Before long, shipwreck will occur.
• Maybe you know someone well because you see this person every morning when you rise from your bed, and this person you see, who has drifted away from his faith, is you.

Friend, there is hope.  There is opportunity.  You can return, for God is merciful.

One Cannot Drift So Far Off Course to Escape the Lord’s Sight

God longs for you to return, for you to not be adrift, and for you to have fellowship with Him.  Know that God is patient, no matter how far you have drifted and despite how shipwrecked your life seems.  There is HOPE and there is OPPORTUNITY—for GOD IS FAITHFUL, LOVING, AND MERCIFUL.

Not long ago, my mother and I attended her doctor’s visit, and when the nurse stepped in to take mom’s vitals, we began to chat.  Our conversation landed on our summer vacations.  She spoke of her love for the beach and for the presence of the sea.  The discussion was beautiful until it suddenly was not as she began to tell of a past vacation when she was standing thigh-deep in the ocean and began to feel the undercurrent pulling her out to sea.  One moment the story was light and airy before it suddenly turned to turbulent and scary.  That’s how the ocean works.  The waves crash into the shoreline, depositing the shells, seaweed, and small creatures into the sand, only for the water to recede back to the deep abyss of the ocean’s depth.  As the nurse continued her story, she spoke of her fright, of her thoughts, and of her fear that she might die.  You see, the current has power, and in its cosmic undercurrent, one faces demise.  This nurse spoke these words:  “I thought all hope was gone.”  She told us how she looked to the left and to the right, 180 degrees, searching for help.  The beach did not have lifeguards, and everyone she could faintly see did not seem to acknowledge her waving hands or frightful screams for help.  So, she did what she knew was her only Hope—she began to pray, to call on the Lord to send help—and He answered her prayer.

We were sitting in the doctor’s office, listening to this account, seeing this nurse stand before us, realizing that God answered her call for help.  As she prayed for deliverance, suddenly a swimmer on a windsail appeared where the nurse had only seen the open sea.  Latching onto her (the nurse), the heaven-sent swimmer pulled this prayerful one back to the shoreline, back to safety.

• Is this not the way with God?
• Is this not just like the miracles we read within His Word?
• Are we surprised by the power pulling us away from the Lord—OR—Are we humbled by the authority pulling us back to His safe arms?