Day 106: Running Away

Psalms 55:6-8

And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away: I would lodge in the wilderness: I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and the tempest.

Have you ever just wanted to runaway? Pack up everything and go, or pack nothing and go? Life gets you down sometimes, and it gets so confusing to the point where you just want to escape and start a whole new life. That’s what David is saying here, he says it in a very beautiful and poetic way, but he’s ready to run away. We’ve been talking about David a lot lately, and his psalms. David has just about had it with everything in this psalm and many others, and he basically says, if I could just run away and escape this life I would do it.

I think many of us have been in David’s position before, especially those of us in our early twenties, and even mid and late twenties. We go through times in our lives where we just want to simplify, we want everything to be simple and easy again. Life can be so complicated, confusing, and demanding at times that we don’t know what to do or where to go. It’s doesn’t have to be something tragic, or depressing. It could be a change in our lives, that triggers the desire to escape. It could be figuring out what you’re going to do after college, or what you’re going to do with your life in general. There are many thing that would be so much easier if we could avoid going through them, but we have to. I know it would be easier to run away, but we have to face these things head on if we want to move forward. As we approach the years of becoming independent and responsible adults, things get a bit cloudy. It's a great thing we have God to help us through all the craziness life will throw at us.

I remember being twenty two, a couple of years ago, and my nephew had just been born. My sister and I turned 22 five days after he was born. I started rethinking everything, trying to figure out what I really wanted out of life. My sister seemed to be moving forward in her life, and my younger brother. It seemed like everyone was moving forward but me. I thought maybe I need to just leave, get up and go, start a new life, because this one isn't working. There's something about the age 22, that makes you really start thinking about what your life will look like, and how you want it to be. I started to put a lot of things in perspective at twenty two. It could’ve been because the birth of my nephew had such a huge impact on me. I think that definitely played a role, but things in my life started to look and feel different. At the time I was taking a gap year, which I didn’t know would be a gap year until I decided to go back to school about four months later. However, I had dropped out of my other school, where I was studying theology and starting acting again, and I was trying to figure out where my life was going. I would always tell my mom and sister that I just wanted to buy a volkswagen bus, turn it into a house on wheels and travel the country with my guitar, camera, and notebook.  I just wanted to get away, and have a simple life, where there were no worries or problems. And I was serious, I was dead serious. People would laugh when I said that but I think only my mom and sister knew how serious I was. I would have given up everything to do something like that. Until one day I was talking with my mom, and she said, “You’re not trying to start a life, you’re trying to run away from the one you have?😳 She said you need to face whatever it is you're trying to run away from, 😓😰 And she was beyond right, I wanted to get the weight and pressure of living off of me. I was going through so much at the time an I just wanted to escape everything. I wanted this simple life, where I did not have to worry about anything. I wouldn’t have to worry about rejection or pain, I would just go everyday carefree, living. I soon found out that escaping the problems, fears, or struggles wouldn’t help. Running away would not make anything better because one day I would have to return and deal with it.

-Dyamond

Running away will do nothing for us, packing up and leaving will only work if we are running to something, not away from it. We’ve seen it portrayed by Hollywood so many times. Someone leaves their old life, in search of something new and better, and by the end of the movie they are confronted with the very thing they are tried to get away from.

Psalms 31:1

I run to you, God; I run for dear life. Don’t let me down! Take me seriously this time!(MSG)

One thing we must realize is that these moments are opportunities for growth. These are the times when we put our faith and trust in God and follow His direction. When we want to runaway, we should run straight into the arms of God. If we want to run anywhere we can run to God. He will provide us with a way to get through whatever it is we may be going through. He will walk with us, and make sure that we are okay. He will see us through. God has us in the palm of His hand, and when we run to Him we will forever have someone to walk us through this life. Run to God, before running away, and you will see His hands on your life.

Reflection

1. Have you ever want to pack up  and leave everything?
2. Are you running away from something right now?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. If you are currently running away from something, turn and run to GOd. He has everything you need. Whatever is on your heart right now our it out to Him.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 107!