The Still Small Voice

This post isn’t for everyone—but maybe it’s for you.

I wrote this for anyone who feels far from God. For anyone carrying a quiet ache, regret, or shame. For anyone who has silently wondered, “Is it too late for me?”

If that’s you—read on. There’s a love bigger than your failure, and a freedom deeper than your fear.

I know that you have a past. I know there are things you have done in your life that you deeply regret–that you are deeply ashamed of. I know you may appear to have it together but struggle with self-doubt. I know that you have made mistakes. Perhaps you even wish that you could turn back the clock. Perhaps you feel all is lost–or even that it is too late.

I know this because I, like you, am human. I have also made a multitude of mistakes throughout my life, experienced spectacular failure, struggled with self-doubt, and often battled the specter of shame.

However, no matter where you are in your journey of life–no matter what you have done–Jesus offers forgiveness.

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” -Isaiah 43:25

I know you have heard this before, but really hear it this time. Jesus died so that you can have true freedom. So that you might experience life to the full. So that you might, at long last, find the deep hunger in your soul satiated and shame eradicated.

Many people in our world today are turned off by Christianity because they view it as a club for the self-righteous. They may feel alienated by religion and jaded by what they perceive to be a world history in which, as they see it, faith has caused nothing but trouble. They may consider religion to be the opiate of the masses. They may feel that Christians are judgmental or hypocritical.

I am sorry if you have had an experience with the church in which you felt marginalized or judged. This is not reflective of the character of Jesus.

The Christian faith, at its core, is built on the foundations of radical love. Jesus made many people angry when he associated with those whom the religious leaders of his day rejected: tax collectors. Prostitutes. Lepers. Others who were socially stigmatized.

Ultimately, the envy of religious leaders and suspicion at the way Jesus threatened the social order were among the reasons he was crucified. However, the crucifixion was a culmination of a plan much bigger than any scheme concocted by man: it was the divinely orchestrated apex of God’s redemptive plan for all humanity.

Jesus’s love for the world was radical. He came to eradicate shame. He came so that the voice of the accuser of our souls, the devil, would be silenced forever.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” -Isaiah 1:18

No matter what you have done, no matter how far you feel from God–and I realize you might feel very, very far–no matter if you are a prodigal son or daughter who feels there is no path back to him, ever–know that God loves you deeply.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” -Isaiah 61:1

As spiritual beings, we all know in our hearts that there is more to life than the physical realm, and we long, whether consciously or subconsciously, for connection with something greater than ourselves.

What we are longing for is communion with our Creator–and the freedom he offers: freedom from the weight of our sins, freedom from the shackles of shame, freedom for those enslaved to their own addictions and hang-ups, freedom from ourselves–to become who he created us to be.

He will love you radically–if you let Him.

I can tell you that the simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating experience of free falling into a life in which you relinquish control and choose to trust Him, while scary, is the best feeling in the world.

Knowing that the Creator of the universe considers you his treasure and the apple of his eye (yes, you), that he numbers each hair on your head, that he knew you before you were conceived in your mother’s womb, that he has had a plan for your life since time immemorial… living life really understanding these truths and fully surrendered to your Creator… what could be better?

If your wandering heart has been searching for true love your whole life, look no further:

“Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:38

Not any human being, nor any darkness, not any scheme, not a single one of your sins, not any of your addictions, none of your secrets, not even death itself can separate you from the redemptive power of God, whose banner over you, dear reader, is love.

I share this not to preach, but to witness. These truths have changed my life. If your heart has been wandering, I just want to tell you: there’s a way home.

Consider receiving the love he’s always held out to you.

Step into the life you were born to live.