Long Distance

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. – Lamentations 3:22-23

I lived in Pittsburg. That certain boy didn’t. But what did that matter? When I had met him a few years before, I fell for him. I knew he was my dream guy. My soul mate. I was certain that God intended us to be together.

And as first it was great. We would make the three hour drive every other weekend to see each other, and we vowed to make it work. I didn’t doubt our relationship even for a second. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. He wasn’t much for communication, and I was the over-communicator. We didn’t match.

We made that trip back and forth for a year, but after hundreds of dollars in gas and untold numbers of long-distance phone calls, our relationship was over. The breakup conversation only took four minutes! I was devastated. I harbored bitterness towards God, that certain guy, and myself for believing it was a done deal. It took me a long time to get my relationship with God back on track, but I finally figured it out. His mercies are new every morning. Gone was the mentality of thinking I had everything figured out. My life and my future were in God’s hands.

Have you ever felt like you and God are in a long-distance relationship? That you haven’t seen each other for a while, and maybe you’ve gotten off track? Maybe the communication isn’t as good as it once was, and you’re too busy with the rest of your life to give Him a call at the end of the day. “I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first,” the Lord says in Revelation 2:4. Building a relationship is a daily process, and God is always reaching out for you. “My righteousness draws near speedily; my salvation is on the way…look to me and wait in hope” (Isaiah 51:5). Will you draw near to Him today?

Prayer: I always think I can make it work on my own, but even with the best of intentions I always fall short. Help me to not be wise in my own eyes, and make my relationships right today! Amen.