Running from God

This is effort to remove ourselves from the conscious awareness of God because of sin we have committed (Gen 4:14,16). In disobedience, “Jonah ran away from the Lord…” but found it was futile to try to escape from Him, yet his actions negatively affected other innocent people (Jnh 1:3-5, 3:1-3).  Do I try to ignore or run from the conviction of the Holy Spirit when He impresses that I should do something? Trying to block out God’s voice by excessive involvement in other activities, work or sport are other diversion tactics the enemy can use so we don’t have time to fulfill His calling on our lives. David asked, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Ps 139:7-10). He knew God is everywhere (omnipresent) and even if we think we are hiding from Him like Adam and Eve did, He sees us (Gen 3:8).

something harmful. Satan is a liar (Jn 8:44). The Holy Spirit will remind us of the issue we failed to obey, and if we response to His conviction and repent of our disobedience, victory is gained through restored relationship with Him and we can progress on in our spiritual walk. However His Spirit will not always strive with human rebellion, if there is persistent refusal to go His way, and those who go down this route will sink deeper into ungodly ways (Gen 6:3; Rom 1:18-32).

The prodigal son’s father was waiting for his return after he came to his senses (Lk 15:17-20). In a similar manner, God is waiting for those who have turned their backs on Him to realise the error of their ways and in repentance ‘return home’. It is so much better to cooperate and yield to God. Because of our carnal, fleshly nature it seems hard to go His way, yet God always seeks our ultimate best. In fact, we should be running to His loving arms, not away from Him.  Known sin, or not being willing to give up something that the Spirit is convicting us about, will present a barrier between us.

See also: conviction, disobedience, obedience, omnipresent, presence of God, prodigal, rebellion, repentance.