5 Reasons Why We Wander Away from God’s Best

Do you find yourself wandering away from God and in a season of spiritual drift? If so, you’re among friends and in the company of perfectly imperfect women of God. Together we’ll explore why we’re prone to drifting away from God so we’re able to keep it from happening in the future.

The Israelites wandered from God… just like me

It was in the wee hours of morning when I reached for another cup of coffee, trying to will myself to wake and begin the day. I grumpily grabbed my Bible in hopes to adjust my poor attitude at the foot of the cross.

Pouring through the pages of Joshua and Exodus, I immediately found a kinship with the Israelites and recognized my own tendency to aimlessly wander through the wilderness of life.

How could God’s chosen people experience freedom from slavery and stand in awe at the parted Red Sea, just to question God’s will and faithfulness a moment later?  (Exodus 14: 21-29, Exodus 16: 1-3)

How could those who experienced God’s provisions and faithfulness, praise Him with one breath and the next moment, melt their jewelry together to form and worship a false idol? (Exodus 32: 1-3)

As I scoffed at their foolishness and felt smug in self-righteousness, I felt the gentle nudge of the Spirit in my soul as He pointed out the error of my own unsightly sins.

In my own way, I am a modern-day Israelite.  Once I experience the magnitude of God’s blessings and watch the miracles He performs, I am quick to become complacent and whine about where life has taken me.

As I wrestled with my own wandering heart, I realized I’m not alone in this cycle of wandering away from God and His best. This age-old problem shows up time and time again in Scripture, yet modern day believers have more distractions than ever and can easily miss God’s purpose and plan for their lives. 

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5 Reasons We Wander Away from God’s Best

We think we know best

When we trust our own feelings instead of God’s promises, we wander away from His best.  Living through the daily grind, we learn to navigate life with rushed decisions and hasty emotions that quickly put us off of God’s path.  

When we take our eyes off the Lord, we are silently saying that we, in our own power, are fully capable of plotting our course and finding our own way in this world.  Proud and haughty, we dismiss God’s power and place our own selfish hearts back onto the throne of control.

We take God’s grace for granted

Have you found yourself complacent and restless in your faith during seasons of your life? Me, too friend.  When we “play church” or go through the motions of Christianity, our eyes become unfocused and our senses dull to the miracle of God’s grace.

How easy it is forget Jesus’ sacrifice and life changing atonement at the cross when our eyes and hearts aren’t fixed on Him. Getting comfortable in our salvation causes a restless stirring deep in our soul and suddenly, we find ourselves aimlessly wandering away from the Lord’s best.

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We are afraid

When the storms of life surround us, if we are not rooted and planted in faith, we can be quickly blown off of God’s course and cling to the allusion that our fear is greater than our almighty Father. Being blinded by fear causes us to doubt God’s power and capability to step in and make a way for our situation.

Sometimes God’s best includes taking a leap of faith, but if we’re paralyzed by fear, we may miss an opportunity God has for us because we’re afraid to take a chance.

Psst… these Bible verses for stress, worry and anxiety are a perfect way to overcome fear with God’s help. 

We get distracted

Just as my son is quick to chase after a flitting butterfly, us modern day Israelites get distracted in this busy and rushed life.

Distracted by responsibilities, obligations and the demands of life, living without our eyes focused solely on the Lord can keep us from experiencing the best that God has planned for us.

May we learn to guard our hearts and pray for “blinders” as we seek to focus solely on God’s face and on His perfect plan.

We have to wait

Waiting can be agonizing if we let our circumstances overshadow God’s truth and become paralyzed by our situations. If we focus instead on God’s faithfulness and wholeheartedly seek His wisdom, waiting can be a time of growth and refinement. It’s a blessing to watch His plan unfold after waiting on Him to move, even when the wait seems long and lonely.

May we learn to bind our wandering hearts to the wisdom and will of the Lord, and trust Him with our lives and situations!

Has there been a time when you (like me!), have wandered from God’s best for you?  How do you get back on the right track?

5 Comments

  1. I am definitely a modern day Israelite at times. And I think a lot of times we don’t want to admit it, but we really do take Grace for granted sometimes. I loved this. 🙂

    1. Thank you for the encouragement! Since we know the trappings of this world that we’re easily distracted by, may we learn to guard our hearts. 🙂

  2. Love this post, Sarah Ann. I can definitely relate during this time of waiting on the Lord!

  3. I’ve got that old hymn singing its way through my heart right now: Prone to wander, Lord I feel it! I appreciate the way you’ve broken this down into five reason — it helps us to see what the sin of unbelief looks like!

  4. Thanks for this wisdom here, Sarah Ann. It’s so easy for us to judge the Israelites and think we’d never leave God for idols like they did. But we do, don’t we? Every day if we’re not careful. I like your 5 reasons here. Food for thought.

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