We may run, but we can’t escape the mercy of God.

“I think I am beginning to understand something about the 15th chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel—the lost sheep, the lost drachma, the Prodigal Son. Our dearest Lord is showing that He means everything about the fatted calf and the rejoicing to be taken literally, and He means to pour out every kind of happiness in rivers upon those who ran away from His mercy but could not escape it.” Thomas Merton

When we try to move and live by our own devices, we are in many ways running from the presence of God. But like the Prodigal Son, no matter how far he ran, the father was always home.

Do you feel as if you are going through the motions of Christianity? Do you sense a depth of darkness and a withdrawn presence of God? Do you sense you are not being kissed by His grace and mercy?  Well, there is nothing we can do to get out of this darkness. We must have the faith to firmly believe that no matter what we feel, it never changes Who God is. There is sunlight behind the clouds, even though we can’t see it.

• Tozer called it “The ministry of the night.”
• Spurgeon called it “The child of light walking in darkness.”
• Amy Carmichael called it “Dull weather of the soul.”
• St. John of the Cross called it “The dark night of the soul.”

There are many reasons for this “darkness,” and we must always remember that it can happen when we are living right, or living in disobedience. The fact is that it is real. Through it all, it forces us to examine our lives before our Creator. To let Him in and blow away the “cob-webbed” corners of our heart. And to always know His mercy is there and when we do come home He will “…pour out every kind of happiness in rivers upon those who ran away from His mercy but could not escape it.”

“We can’t escape it (this darkness) but we can live through it!”  Winkie Pratney