Nowhere to Hide
I somehow thought God wouldn't find me in Texas. Boy, was I wrong…
I never really knew anything other than Christ and Him crucified. I knew I was supposed to obey God and live like Jesus, but that seemed like a tall order. Being the overachiever I was, I felt lost every time I fell short.
So, I would run and hide. I hid from church, friends, and family—and made the silly mistake of thinking I could hide from God, too. Much like Adam and Eve in the garden, I would hear Him calling out to me, reminding me of His love and that He had created me for a purpose.
In May 2019, I took that running and hiding halfway across the country—to Texas. Yes, I tried running away from home as an adult, convinced I could hide from God and everyone else.
See, God knew I would go to Texas before I was even born.
Jeremiah 1:5 (Amplified Bible)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument],
And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own];
I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Yet I somehow thought I would never have to live up to expectations again. Nobody knew me there. I could be whomever I pleased.
I didn’t understand that God had already created me with a purpose, or just how unconditionally He loved me. Even while I was running, He kept calling me back toward that purpose, without taking away my freedom to choose.
Jeremiah 29:11 (Amplified Bible)
“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
A future and a hope? Was God not paying attention? Did He not see ALL I had done? Did He not know that, at that very moment, I was trying to hide from everything I knew about Him?
He knew exactly where I was—both on the map and in my walk with Him. Yet His love for me was greater than all the ways I believed I had let Him down.
Were there consequences for my choices? Absolutely. But my failures didn’t have to keep me from returning to Him and living eternally as His child.
He wanted me to succeed in the purpose He created me for. I may never fully understand a love like that, but I choose to accept it as truth.
That truth is how I choose to live my life now. No matter what happens, I know God already saw it coming—and He always gets the victory.
That is how I live in Victory Through the Storm!
I understand what you mean. I’ve tried to run from my past and hide from my sins, but it didn’t work. I’ve forgiven myself, just as God has forgiven me, and through it all I’ve grown closer to Him. My past may not be the best, but I remind myself that God loves me and has renewed my soul. I don’t let my past have a strong hold on me today, and I keep in mind that I am loved and a child of God..