Prone to Wander

I don't know about you, but many times I come to a sudden realization that distractions have completely overtaken me. Diversions tend to creep in unnoticed when I least expect them, and before I even recognize what's hit me, I'm spiritually parched and in need of refreshment - refreshment that can only be found by spending time in God's Word and in prayer. Over the years I've noticed that my spiritual life suffers most when I allow my circumstances to pull my attention away from God. There's no one to blame for this but myself. Just the other day my cheerleaders and I were discussing how a runner will naturally slow down if he takes his eyes off the finish line and begins looking at the other runners around him. The same is true in a believer's spiritual walk: If we take our eyes off Christ and start focusing upon the circumstances that encircle us, we'll undoubtedly start to slow down and veer off course. 

Often the things that lead me astray are good things in and of themselves, but too many times I allow those things to reign over my thoughts and my actions. Circumstances consume me and step in to vie for my attention, attempting to draw my focus off of the very One my heart needs most. My walk with the Lord is filled with hills and valleys. Thankfully, the trend line seems to be going upward as God molds me into the image of Christ. But it is a very slow growth, and sometimes seems stagnant. God's unending patience toward my wretched heart is overwhelming at times and, in response, I can only repent of my wanderings, focus my attention back upon Christ, and run the race set before me, knowing that God is the Author and Finisher of my faith.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!

Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee

Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

(Robert Robinson)

Love,

Kristen