• It's Not Too Late To Turn Back

    By: Kristen L. McNulty

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

    She wakes up and part of her wishes she was still in a dream because the reality of what her life looks like is better left alone. Where once happiness was in her pocket, being happy is now a foreign concept. She's searched the world but came up empty. Joy and peace are no where to be found.

    On those mornings when she allows herself to linger in bed for just a few extra minutes her mind takes her back to another time. A time where life wasn't perfect, but there was something different that made all the difference- she wasn't walking through it alone.

    Unfortunately the journey of her life recently has taken her to a place of solitude. She spent so long running- from her God, her friends, her family, and ultimately herself that now she sits alone, dreaming of what life was like before and wondering if it is too late to turn back.

    Have you ever found yourself in that place? Many of us do at some point in our lives or another. Sometimes life seems like it's too much so we run away from our problems and end up running into more problems along the way than what we were faced with. Sometimes we get tired of fighting what seems to be a losing battle and so we give into temptations, only to find they leave us feeling empty and alone.

    If you're finding yourself in that place now, there is good news for you- you haven't gone to far. You can turn back.

    Satan would have us believe that we've stepped just over the line and can't go back but that isn't true. Listen to what God's own Word has to say on the subject:

    1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

    Ephesians 1:7 - "In Him [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

    Isaiah 1:18 - "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them white as wool."

    And Isaiah 43:25 - "I-yes, I alone- will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again."

    And then there's the story of the prodigal son. If you know it you know that no matter how far the son ran the father stood watching and waiting for him to return. And when he did, the father ran out to meet him and welcome him back.

    Our Father, God, is waiting for us in the same way. If you are tired of running stop right now and turn to Him. Confess your mistakes and let His grace, love and forgiveness not only wipe the slate clean, but restore you in the process. You are loved and you're never too far from Home.

    Closing with the words of Jesus in the parable of the lost sheep. As you listen, keep in mind God is talking about you and I here. We are the lost sheep he would leave all else to find. Luke 15, verse 3-7:

    "So Jesus told them this story: If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!"


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