A Safe Distance from the Altar

(This post is from my old blog and was written a couple of years ago, but as I was determining what to share tonight, I looked over some of my older pieces and this one really jumped out at me as being timely right now.  I think there are many who are right on the edge of returning to God, but something is holding them back. Feel free to share this with someone who might be in that very situation.)

The other night I went to a revival service in a little country church where my pastor was preaching.   The message was powerful and the time of altar ministry was sweet.  As the service ended and people began leaving the sanctuary, my pastor turned and pointed to a lady standing next to me in the aisle. He said to her, “God is after you!”  Then he turned and began to talk to someone else. What she said to me after he turned away has made a huge impact on me so I’ve written her a letter that I want to share with you.

Dear “Lady from the Revival”,

When my pastor turned to you after the service this evening and said, “God is after you”, you said to me, “I’m staying a safe distance from the altar”.  We talked casually as you stood waiting for your sister and you said you used to serve God, but you weren’t living for Him now. I said that I had also done that at one point in my life.  Maybe I should have said more, but people were milling around the room, gathering their belongings and their children so they could exit the building. It just didn’t seem to be the right time to pursue the subject with you, but what you said has stayed on my mind for all the hours since I heard it.

You see, I may not know what caused you to walk away or what sin you think keeps you from coming back, but I do know what it’s like to run from a calling and I know what it’s like to avoid being in a place where I might have to acknowledge my need to turn back to God and His plan for my life. I remember wanting to do things my way and feeling that all those people who were urging me back to God were just being narrow-minded. Later in my life, I remember feeling that I’d messed up too much and degraded myself far beyond God’s willingness to restore me, so there was just no use in coming back to Him.  There were a lot of wasted years when I could have been making a Kingdom difference, but I was living a frivolous, shallow life. 

Then one day, I found myself in a church service much like the one where I met you.  I realized all the areas of my life where I had tried to make changes on my own could not be changed without a true transformation – one I was not capable of making on my own - so instead of staying a safe distance from the altar that night, I made my way to the safety of a loving Father who began to make all things new.

When you said you were staying a safe distance from the altar, you said it the same way a woman on a diet says she's going to avoid going to a candy store or a shopaholic trying to break a spending habit says they aren’t going to the mall.  It’s not because you don’t want what is there; it’s because you do want what’s there and you know that if you get that close you won’t be able to resist the pull of the presence of God any longer.

It boils down to this - the altar is the only safe place there is in this world.  It’s not necessarily a physical altar, but it’s the altar in our hearts where we lay down our “stuff” and allow God to do His work in us.  What is it that you are holding on to that makes you safer where you are than in His loving arms?  What do you think will happen if you return to Him?  Are you afraid that His purpose for you will finally be fulfilled? Don’t you know that until you find that purpose and walk in it, you will never truly be satisfied with anything in this life?

If you walked with Him once, you must have heard this scripture.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 KJV)

The only thing separating you from His love right now is your choice to keep Him at arm’s length.  

Nothing else.

I’m not conceited enough to think that my few, simple words here would be persuasive enough to bring you to a place where you would run back to that altar of forgiveness and acceptance, but I will be praying that you do just that. Sharing the gospel can be as simple as telling others the good news of what God has done for us. So when He lifts you back up after you surrender again to Him, do the same for someone else.  Share your story and point them back to safety.

Love,

Jan