Have you ever had one of those nights where one thing leads your thought process all over the place and then you land on one specific thought and kind of camp out there? That’s what this post is tonight so bear with me.

Tonight, for some reason, our greyhound has been acting goofy. She came up to me and just stood in front of me and stared deeply into my eyes. She just wouldn’t move. Then later, as we came upstairs for the night, she was laying down in our room and when Syd came to get her for bed, Baby just stayed where she was and stared at me again. Almost as if she didn’t want to leave me.

It took some gentle persuasion to get her up and going but she finally went.

So, it made me wonder…..does she know something I don’t? We know dogs can sense seizures so maybe I’m going to have one? But mine aren’t the scary, frightening for people to see kind so then I started wondering, does she “know” something’s coming?

Something we can’t sense? Something we’re just not sensitive enough to detect until it’s right on us?

Then my thoughts turned where they often do when I think about my illness…..my passing. I thought about my relationship with God, with my Savior.

Where is it? Is it where it should be?

Then I thought about a VERY popular line people use on each other when they want out of a relationship that’s no longer working. A simple sentence uttered to avoid hurting the other person’s feelings. The good old, tried and true, “It’s not you, it’s me” statement.

Let’s face it….that really means…..yep, it IS you…..NOT me and I don’t want to stick around and work on it.

There is, in my opinion, one time this sentence is 100% true……and that is when we’re using the sentence to describe our relationship with God, with His Son, our Savior Jesus.

“It’s not You God, it’s me.”

I’m not feeling connected to You Father. “It’s not You Lord, it’s me because I’m not reading Your Word for guidance.”

I don’t feel like I have an open line of communication with You Lord. “It’s not You Father, it’s me because I’m not spending any time in prayer.”

I don’t witness to other people in Your Name Jesus. “It’s not You Jesus, it’s me because I’m afraid of what people might think of me if I appear “too consumed” with You.”

My children aren’t making wise choices Father God. “It’s not You God, it’s me because I haven’t really been the example for them to follow when it comes to Your teachings.”

My marriage is falling apart Lord. “It’s not You Lord, it’s me because I make my spouse my last priority instead of the person who is most important to
me after my service to You Jesus.”

How many of the above examples can we relate to?

Isaiah 53:6a says

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.”

“IT’S NOT YOU FATHER GOD, IT’S ME.”

It’s me, it’s you, it’s us. All of us, at one time or another have felt further from God than we’d like.

There have been times in all of our lives when we’ve felt like there’s a canyon between us and Him. That canyon can, at times, seem an impossible bridge to close but in actuality it’s simple.

We Just need to start doing what we knew we should have been doing all along. Reading His Word. Praying to Him. Talking to Him. Fellowshipping with other believers. Put our priorities in order. Seek Him above ALL else.

Just because we may have strayed away as sheep, it doesn’t mean we have to stay lost in the pasture. We can come home anytime we want.

He’s waiting and will welcome us just as the Father welcomed the prodigal son when he returned to the fold.

What I love about the parable of the prodigal son is the fact that there was no harping on the fact that the son left. No beating for leaving. Just sheer thankfulness that he was back and he was safe and he was with his family again.

That’s us. When we come back to our Father, there is rejoicing that we’re back where we should have been all along….,with HIM.

So, the next time you feel discouraged in your walk, I encourage you to take an honest look at your habits. If you can say, “It’s not You God, it’s me.”, Then you know where you need to start in order to return to His arms and His peace.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you found yourself in this situation over the course of your walk with Jesus? What helped you?