What Happens When...

Take a little mental trip with me for a second. Imagine yourself in the most perfect form, nothing ales you, nothing hurts, you are the most beautiful creature you can be and you radiate a supernatural glow that is insanely alluring to every creature (think about Snow White). You are walking through a lush rain forest. All of the colors are freshly vibrant from the mist of the most recent rain fall. All of the leaves and petals glisten in the sparkles of sunlight. You are perfect and in a perfect Utopia. As long as you keep walking through the forest on this path at the same slow and steady pace, nothing bad can touch you because you are right where you are supposed to be. A tree branch could fall, but you don't jump because you know that as long as you stay right where you are it won't touch you. Life is bliss and everything is good. Okay. This is you when you are in the center of God's will.

Now, continue imagining yourself walking down this amazingly beautiful path drinking up every little joy the trail has to offer. You suddenly see a little foot path coming up on the right side of the trail and you stop to think about which path you should take. The path on the right is very narrow and looks kind of dangerous. It goes straight up a hill and you're sure that if you could only crest the top of that hill, you will see the most amazing sight of all. You don't know what it will be, but you have a feeling it will be worth it. You look back at the path you have been following on the left and suddenly realize that it's been the same forever and it looks like it's not going to change in the future. You start to realize you want some adventure... you just have to crest the top of that hill to see what it is going to overlook.

Against the warnings you initially feel in your gut, you slowly step off the left path and onto the one on the right. You go just a few steps to make sure everything is going to be okay. All of the creatures seem to still be following you, so you go a few steps more, and a few more. You notice that the trees are starting to grow thicker and the tree covering is starting to make the path kind of dark and hazy. You look back and see that a few of the animals have decided to go back to where it is light. You rationalize in your head to keep going. Surely the sight on the top of that hill will be worth it, they just don't know... they're scared.

So you keep plunking along slowly and timidly exploring your way up this steep, dark path to the top of the hill and suddenly fall on your face. You tripped because you could hardly see anything in front of you. You look to your animal friends to help you up and realize that they have all left you to go back to the light path. You try to grab onto roots to keep yourself from sliding back down the hill in the mud. After all, you've already made it all this way - you don't want to stop now. You're almost there. By now, it's mostly black. You are sweating profusely and you are covered in mud. The light you radiated only hours before seems to be gone and you can't see the path in front of you. You grope around frantically in the dark trying to find your way up this hill and are starting to wonder if your animal friends might have been right to just go back to the other trail. But in all your stubbornness you choose to press on so you can prove them wrong.

Finally, exhausted, muddy, sweaty, bruised and scraped you make it to the top of the hill. Your clothes are torn and your hair is a mess on top of your head. You close your eyes and walk to the edge so you can have a pleasant surprise. The reward for all of your hard work is right in front of you. The hours it took you to struggle to the top of this hill will all be put into perspective once you open your eyes and see the whole Utopia from way up high. You count to three and open your eyes.

As you open them your heart sinks to the bottom of your stomach. You see that a HUGE part of the beautiful rain forest has been burned down and destroyed. There is smoke and flames smoldering for as far as your eye can see. The sky is blood red and the smell of sulfur and ashes hang thick in the air.

You fall to the ground weeping with bitter disappointment. You struggled, you kept pressing on, you thought it would be worth it in the end to get to the top and see a spectacular sight. But there you are, weeping on the ground in pain with nothing but scars and dirty clothes to show for your struggle. You sit there and sob over not following your initial instinct to stay on the blissful path in Utopia where everything was fine and peachy. You sob over every time you looked back to find more and more of your animal friends turning back. Why didn't you listen to them? Why didn't you stay where you were beautiful? Why are you left a heaping filthy mess on the ground, your radiant beauty gone... your eyes, tired and lifeless?

The answer is simple. You said "I got this" and went kept going on against all the signs that were sent to you. Your curiosity got the best of you and you truly felt like you had to see what was on the other side of that hill. Now you have to figure out a way to get back to Utopia so you start back down the hill carefully. You go a little ways and find that the path is becoming more illuminated. You round a bend to find a few of your animal friends waiting there for you. When you realize they were waiting for you, you start running. You run as fast as you can all the way back down the hill and the closer you get to the path in Utopia, the more friends rejoin you.

You finally get back to the path in Utopia and your heart is glad that your friends didn't abandon you completely. When you get there you realize how different you look from when you started. You are filthy and ridiculous. How different this is from all of your friends who stayed back and waited for you to return to the light path. Not ever having faced this predicament before you have no idea what to do about it. Out of nowhere, a man kind looking man appears with white towel and a clean dress. He takes your hand and in a gentle voice says follow me. He leads you to a lush oasis of the bluest water you have ever seen. He helps you get cleaned up and brushes your hair. You don't understand why he is being so kind to you. After all, you were the one who chose to leave the path and do things on your own. You open your mouth to question him and he puts his finger to your lips to stop you and whispers, "Because I love you and I forgive you. That's why. Now, come back and join with your friends on the blissful path in Utopia." All of the anxiety that had built up in your body suddenly flees and you feel restored. You go back to the path in Utopia and everything is right as rain like nothing ever happened. Every once in a while memories of that horrible path come back to you and you stop, paralyzed in fear of making a choice like that again. But every time it happens, the kind man appears to take your hand and walk with you a little ways down the path.

This is what God does for his people. He pulls us back and cleans us up and brushes out hair and sets us back on the right path. We don't deserve such kindness, but he chooses to give it to us anyway. I'm smack in the middle of learning this myself, but I felt like he gave me this vision to share with you all. There is no mountain too far and no amount of filthiness that can keep you from his love and kindness. Friends, he WANTS to clean us up and walk a ways with us. He WANTS to love on us and help us in the rough times. We just have to get past the shame and embarrassment of our mistakes and let His divine love surround us and engulf us.

LET HIM LOVE YOU AND BRING YOU BACK TO HIM.