Still Smiling

This post is written for Five Minute Friday Link Up. The word for today is “Distant.”

            The bumper sticker caught my eye as I waited impatiently behind the long line of cars. The oppressive heat, my impatience and a stack of work projects created the perfect storm of irritation. I clearly did not represent Christ in that moment. As an author friend of mine likes to say, I was a hot mess.

            The simplicity of the message hit me with a power punch. It read, “If you feel distant from God, guess who moved.” Ouch! Yep. I had moved. My quiet time with God was at a minimum. My schedule was out of control and I knew in an instant where I missed the mark.   

            Simply put, as Christians in the world today, we can’t expect to carry the grace of God if we are empty. What used to be a flow of grace in my life had become a trickle. It was time to get back into God’s Word, hook up to the spiritual IV and restore my relationship with God. I was spiritually dehydrated and distant from God.

            Pastor and author John Stickl writes in Follow the Cloud, “We want God to turn his voice up; he wants us to turn our life down.” Message received, I turned around and headed back and God was still smiling.