Turn Around

Have you ever been on a trip, a stroll on a wooded trail or a hike in the mountain wilderness and realized you were not where you thought you’d be?  In can happen unintentionally, a wandering off the trail.  Sometimes we stray on purpose, chasing after an elusive desire; “If I go just a little bit further, I can always make it back…”.  But at some point in these situations, we say to ourselves, “Holy smokes…where am I?  I’m lost.  No one is here with me and I’m not sure I know how to find my way home.”

“If you're scared that you don't matter
If you're lost and need to be found
If you're looking for a Savior
All you gotta do is turn around”

It’s usually not the big decisions that get us in the most trouble during our lives.  Lots of little decisions over time, moving us ever-closer to a line we said we’d never cross, are the real problem.  When we see that line far away, it is easy to say “I’d never do that.”  It’s such a giant step, so opposite of who we are, we can’t recognize a way that we could make that kind of choice.  But, when taken one small step at a time, an eventual crossing of the line is just one more very small step.

“Some turn to a bottle
Some turn to a drug
Some turn to another's arms
But it seems like it's never enough”

Matt Maher’s music finds a way to cut through the challenges of my daily life and speak a pretty direct message.  His current song is a great one called “All the People Said Amen” (love it!).  But the one for today is a pretty frequent “guest” on my playlists.  “Turn Around” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRiyDKmPnJg), besides being a great rock tune with a country twang, is a simple message of how to solve the problem of being lost.

When playing Candy Land as a kid, and then again as a young parent with our three girls, I always loved landing on the short cuts.  Hitting the colored square that took you up “Rainbow Trail” or “Mountain Pass” was always awesome.  And oh my goodness, pulling the card with the Neapolitan Ice Cream Float that advanced you to the top of the board was the best!

The good news is that when we have seemingly left God behind, far back down the decision trail, He does offer us a short cut back.  We don’t have to tread the whole trail on which we came.

“You don't have to
Take the broken road
You can turn around
And come back home”

I love the image of simply being able to shift my focus, change my direction without moving, and slowly rotate the other direction.  Once I turn away from what I’m chasing and set my sights back on Him, He is right there.  He does not call me from a distance saying, “I am way over here.  Once you come all the way back, then I’ll help you.”  No.  He never leaves us.

In the Great Commission, Christ calls us to be light in the world.  But, we don’t have to do it alone; “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).  A coincidence we’re enjoying a song from “Matthew” today?  See my “Let It Be” post from 16Mar.

“No one listens to you anymore
And your heart has broken down, you don't need to move
Love has come to you, all you gotta do is turn around
All you gotta do is turn around, turn around”

So, do you think God is far from you?  Has your life, or even some small aspect of your life, strayed away?  No matter how far we wander from God…and I mean farther than you can imagine…He is still right there behind us, waiting with open arms for our turning back toward Him.  Wondering if someone’s got your back?

Turn around.