He is right here...

Never!  That’s how many times the Lord God will leave you.  Never! That is how many times He will forsake you.  I heard this for years and years, and even read Hebrews 13:5 a dozen times,  yet I didn’t truly grasp it, until I was all alone in a hotel room, after a long day and night of meetings, which involved dinner and drinks, and cigars and more drinks.  To understand how I got here, you need to know that this kind of hectic work and party schedule was a regular part of my life- five days a week,  for years.  The irony is that I thought I was living the Good Life! Yes, the Good Life, you know the idea of what it means to be happy and successful from the world’s perspective (money, fancy cars, trips, power).   The truth is, there wasn’t anything “good” at all about my life.  I was out of harmony with God’s will, I was in conflict with my wife, estranged from my children, and on the highway to hell…fast and probably drunk.  Tonight, when I look back at that painful season of my life, I feel such overwhelming gratitude that despite my running from Him, despite my willful disobedience and poor choices, God didn’t leave me or forsake me. In my darkest, loneliest hour,  He was waiting for me! He was whispering to me, He was saying…. "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.  Then a few weeks later I took him up on verse 19 of Isaiah 1, “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land,”  Friends, He helped me exchange the Good Lie the world offers for the Good LIFE that He has for all of us who believe.  Thanks for letting me share.  Randy Young

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