When It All Catches Up With You - How Does It Change You

WHEN IT ALL CATCHES UP WITH YOU — HOW DOES IT CHANGE YOU? (2 minute read)

When you do something wrong and you’re caught—or when your bad choices finally lead to something not so good—how does that change you? BTW, pardon again the photo - I just like seeing my wife - it has nothing to do with this story.

Today, I read:

“You can hear crying on the bare hilltops. It is the people of Israel crying and praying for mercy. They have become very evil and have forgotten the LORD their God.” (Jeremiah 3:21 NCV)

Here’s the backstory. Israel had walked away from God. Those “bare hilltops” weren’t insignificant. In the original Hebrew, Jeremiah is describing the high places where Israel had been worshiping idols and other gods. The very places where they had turned away from God had now become places of crying.

It had caught up with them.

WHEN YOU GET CAUGHT DOING WRONG

But there’s a big difference between being sorry because your choices hurt you and being sorry because you realize you’ve wandered away from God, or are just doing wrong things.

Wow, one day around the age of 37, I began to ask myself, “who are you, you are not who you profess to be”, which was a Christ follower. It was time for me to change the dark places in my life.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE EXPOSED

I know people who are having a hard time because of poor choices. As I said, I’ve been there myself. I was doing some really bad stuff, but when it finally broke me and caught up with me, the Holy Spirit led me to confess it, change—repent—and seek forgiveness.

I came home.

Back to Christ. Back to God. And I truly tried to change.

No, I wasn’t perfect afterward. I’m still not. I still do things and think things that aren’t good. But I’ve learned the power of confession. I’ve learned there’s strength that comes when you quit hiding, quit defending, quit blaming, and start doing things the way God tells you to do them. Just be honest and come clean.

God’s commands aren’t there to make our lives miserable. They’re for our own good. Do you believe that?

That includes your health, your relationships, your money, your habits, your sexuality, your words, your attitudes, and your lifestyle when nobody is watching. It includes everything.

ALWAYS FORGIVE

And Jeremiah’s message doesn’t end with people crying on the hilltops. In the very next verse God says, “Come back to me, you unfaithful children.” (Jeremiah 3:22 NCV) What’s amazing about God, is He’s always there ready to have a relationship. We should be that way too.

When it all catches up with you, don’t just regret the consequences. Come home. Confess it. Repent. Receive God’s forgiveness. Then start changing the way you live.

My love for God and my love for others should drive my choices. So maybe the question isn’t simply, What have you done wrong?

WHAT WE LOVE CONTROLS US

I think the better question sis “What are you in love with these days?”

Because eventually, what we love begins to determine how we live.

LORD, help us come clean and just do things right—do them as well as we can. Help us love You enough to trust that Your ways are for our good. And help me to finish well. IJNIP amen ♥️

(Wendy in London on The Eye)