God did not leave

I am not sure where or when I heard this story for the first time, but it has stayed with me through the years. The setting is usually a study or a room filled with wall to wall books and two comfortable chairs. The room is warm, inviting. The individual occupies one chair, and God occupies the other. In the season of intentional prayer, the individual feels close to God and then life happens. They find themselves going to the study less and less and eventually the weight of the world is a heavy burden they feel on their shoulders, they stand alone. They feel far from the God that they once held close. Eventually, they go back to the study and find God sitting there, in the same chair…waiting. The room still feels warm and welcoming, He had never left, the individual had left. So many times in life I have gone back to this story as a reminder that God never leaves me, I leave Him.

I am not sure if you have felt those moments in life, whether they are times of sorrow when you question God’s existence or times of success where you place greater value on pride and ego, when you have felt far from God. I have had a “few” of those moments. Maybe its because I have gone back to that study time and again and found God patiently waiting that these moments seem to have faded in the past. Maybe it’s because I start and end my day in prayer. Regardless of the why, or the origin of the story, it is the perfect image of God, our Father. He does not leave, we do.

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV). God reminds us that He is always with us, even when we are consumed with life and not spending intentional time with Him in the study. Hebrews later reminds us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, NIV). He is not the one that changes, He is not the one that leaves, we do. All we have to do is walk back up those stairs, open the unlocked door, and sit in the chair He saved for us. It will feel like no time has passed. It will feel like a conversation that we continue, not one where we have to begin again. It will be like catching up with a long lost friend that knows all you have done since you last met. Can you picture it?

Today, I pray that you walk back up those stairs and open the door. If it feels like too much time has passed, remember, God did not leave. He is just waiting for you to take a seat.

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