Quite a few years ago, when I was still in my 20's, I saw a "warning sign" as I walked away from God – REJECTION AHEAD.

I began neglecting my relationship with Christ after a disappointment in my faith walk with Him. God didn’t do something I thought He would do and so I began to doubt His love and turned away from Him. As I walked that busy road away from my first love, I expected God to still be there whenever I was in need – I took His love for me for granted.

The road was cluttered with neon signs announcing opportunities to live outside His perfect will for my life, and as I moved further from God, sin’s attraction became stronger. I walked into one depraved “greasy spoon” after another and drank my fill of immorality – I was deceived by sin into thinking that anything could fill me.

I became increasingly insensitive to God’s Spirit and other people in relationship with Him. I stopped attending small group Bible study and rarely read my Bible on my own. I refused my former healthy spiritual diet and filled my life with drugs and other deadening activities. Eventually, I withdrew from attending all gatherings with other Christians and gathered with the partiers instead. I was even being drawn into a false spirituality and was moving quickly toward the end of the road – rejection of God.

Some say it is hard to believe that someone who is a true believer could ever wander so far from God, but I did. And I thank Him that I was drawn back to Him by His everlasting love and kindness. As I turned around near the end of the road, I wished that I could be transported directly to the starting place of spiritual intimacy with my first love, but my journey was not such a miraculous one.

But, there were signs to guide my way.

The first sign I chose to follow was the sign of “Gathering” – I found a gathering of fellow believers in Christ and began joining their celebrations on Sundays and small groups during the week. I was blessed to be received and accepted and was reminded of God’s acceptance of me.

I passed the sign of Gathering and kept on walking toward the sign of “Hunger” – I desired to “eat” of His Word (Bible) and “drink” of His Spirit on a regular basis. I had refused such solid food for so long, that some days I was ravenous for it and feasted for hours. The next sign that led me closer to my first love was the sign of Listening. Oh, how I longed to hear His voice, to listen to His Spirit, to do what I read in His Word.

I knew I had fully arrived at my Father’s heart when I saw the sign of "Love" – just like the father in the story of the son who took his inheritance and squandered it, God met me on the road returning to Him. It seems as if He was running to meet me all the while as soon as I first turned back toward Him. He met me somewhere on the road and led me all the way to renewed spiritual intimacy with Him.

I’d love to tell you that I’ve never left that place again, but that would be a lie. I can tell you this much, I have never again wandered so far. I know the warning signs and pay heed to their warnings.

One thing that has helped me most of all, is staying close to others who are close to Him. It’s like a road trip with my friends, if I miss one of the warning signs on the road, I can trust one of them to point it out for me and encourage me to stay on the road to intimacy.

Elizabeth Chapin

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