Subtle Detachment = Drifting Away

“Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation …” Hebrews 2: 1 – 3a NKJ

In the past few weeks, my home church has gone through a very challenging time and no doubt this has knocked a whole log of us sideways!  We didn’t’ see the outcome coming and were left with many questions.  However, amid all the crises, it seems God is stirring the water. It seems amid all our cries and questions, and if we look closely He is bringing forth a desire, focus and need for us all to hold on to him so as not to drift away.

To Drift away means to move away from something…slowly. It is also to gradually become distant from someone after a period of closeness.

Not long ago, I read about a girl on a beach who was playing on an inflatable, but over some time drifted quite a distance away from the shore and had to be rescued. During the interview, her father said, he didn’t think she was in any danger as she was bobbing along on the surface of the water – unknown to him that bobbing was taking her further from the shore, she was slowly drifting away from safety.

The process of drifting away from God is just as subtle that it mostly goes unnoticed, for a while. Most times, it takes an event in our lives to jolt us to its reality.  When we go through a life defining moment, one of the ways the devil tries to use that experience to set us adrift is by planting doubt about God’s word and turning the facts on its head. This is when thoughts such as “but I fasted and prayed, why did God not answer my prayer”, “But God said I should ask He will give… does this mean He is lying and the bible is not true”.    Every step along the way, we must guard our hearts and thoughts so that it does not lead us to a place where we stray away from God.

Another contributing factor to drifting away from God is neglect.  Whatever we neglect or pay little or no attention we begin to lose interest in. for example, if we neglect spending time with close friends or family, we begin to experience the feeling of being distance and if left long enough, we will begin to live separate lives from them.  When we neglect spending time with God, listening to, reading and meditating on His word, we begin to experience a drift. Our minds and being cannot remain in a void state, thus, when not filled with God, it is filled with something else – these could be anything from grieve, ideologies, pain or even blessings.

The life of Samson is a great example of how subtle detachment from God can go unnoticed. When Samson drifted away from God, he himself did not notice, he still believed he had in him the power and authority he once had.   Judges 16:20-21 reveals this of Samson clearly,” She said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free. For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him.”

We also drift from God when we start to compromise; embracing the wisdom and morals of the World over God’s word.   So, what can we do to guard ourselves from drifting away from God?

Spend Time Reading the Bible.  There is no other option, but to spend time reading the Bible, every single day. It is nourishment to our soul, it is wisdom to navigate the terrains of this world and expose the devices and plans of the devil.

Spend Time In Worship. Get your friends together, fellowship with others in church and have a praise session. There is nothing that grounds us firmly in God’s presence like worship does. It helps us to lose ourselves completely in Him.  There is something supernatural that happens when we worship God from the depths of who we are.

Tell others about Jesus. One of the ways I encourage myself and re-ground myself in God, is to tell others about Him and share words of encouragement.   When we tell others about Jesus, the process affirms our belief in him.

Surround yourself with true believers.  There is safety in wise counsel!  When we surround ourselves with good people, we receive good and honest feedback about our walk in Christ and they will help to make sure that we stay on the truth part.  Proverbs 11:14, tells us clearly that “where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety”.

On a final note, do you think that you are drifting away from God?  Take a few minutes to pray and ask God to reveal the root cause.  Whatever it is that might be making you doubt God and drift away from him, the key is to open to Him, confess all sins and God will restore you and make you whole again.

 

Much Love,