Drifting

I sat on a boat one day,

With an oar in hand

And the wind in my face

And went along the clear stream,

Swept by the strong currents.

I thought it tedious

To paddle against the tide,

For the moment was exhilarating.

Alas, I didn’t see the huge rocks

That I was headed for

Along the clear stream.

I was drifting,

Towards destruction.

At any point in your spiritual life, have you ever felt that the intimate relationship that you share with Christ has somehow developed a crack, which eventually grew wider, and you suddenly find yourself far away from Him? When you have been swept away by the currents of this world, you have drifted away from God.

It all begins,

·        When you start succumbing to temptations easily, and don’t resist {particularly when you are undergoing a spiritual famine in your life – Satan tempts you when you are at the most vulnerable point of your life. “Give sin an inch, and it will take a mile”};

·        When you are enticed by the world’s ways, or by the influence of others {“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Proverbs 1:10, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15}; and,

·        When you begin to doubt God, and want to have your own way {“There is a way which seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12}

Consequently, the voice of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to your conscience when you do wrong, gets fainter, to the point that you’re either not convinced by it anymore, or you don’t hear it because it gets drowned out by earthly clamour.

When you have drifted, you take less time in prayer, your interest in God’s Word decreases, and you don’t feel close to God. Your drift may be so slow, that you may not even realise it, or it may be swift. Whatever the intensity or speed, the consequences that you are led to are often not pretty. When you drift away from God, you drift towards pain. You miss the benefits, the joy, and the peace that come from having a personal relationship with Him. Moreover, you enter into a ‘danger zone’, you don’t acknowledge the presence of God in your life, you become a victim of Satan, you have lost your way, and you know you’re in trouble.

Once you realise that you have drifted, you comprehend the futility of it all, that how nothing you had done gave you any peace or joy in any way, but only added to your troubles. You realise that the world has nothing to offer in comparison to God, you begin to understand how much you had grieved God, and how much He wants you back.

Thankfully however, there is no such thing as ‘point-of-no-return’ along the stream. God is gracious; He is willing to forgive you when you have confessed that you were wrong, that you had drifted, and He will renew the personal, intimate relationship that you had with Him. {“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18}

This however, does not give us the license to sin. It should, in actuality, strengthen us to fight temptation, whatever the circumstance, and win the battle through Christ.

We need to paddle against the tide, go against the flow, for we are living in a time where the current is moving very rapidly, and it becomes easier to drift. When you feel that you are drifting, look unto God, He will strengthen you to do what’s right. Put a signboard alongside the stream, which reads, “No Drifting”, and stick to the rule.

Let us move in the direction He has set for us.

 

Lydia Simon