Our culture romanticizes words such as “wander,” “adventure,” and “free spirit.” If you take a scenic hike, you better snap an artsy picture, slap a filter on it, and upload it to Instagram. If you travel to a foreign country or visit a well-known city, everyone wants to hear about your crazy quest. Traveling and experiencing new places is wonderful, but the desire to be where we are not reveals a lack of contentment.

 

While adventure and travel are entertaining, the desire to roam can become harmful when it affects our relationship with the Lord. If we are not rooted in contentment, anything that catches our eye and piques our interest can lure us away from Jesus.

Our culture convinces us that we should be wildly independent and free from needing anyone else. However, when it comes to the Lord, we should instead be totally dependent on Him and trust that what He has in store for us is the greatest adventure we could imagine.

Many times I wrestle with my own wandering heart, but I have come to realize I am not alone in this cycle of drifting from God’s best. This is an issue that occurs over and over again in Scripture, such as with the Israelites in Exodus 32. God’s chosen people allow their hearts to wander from Him, believing the lie that He is not enough. They even construct an idol and begin to worship this idol in place of God.

“It seems that followers of Jesus have become more attune to the distractions of life and less attuned to all that God has in store.”

We construct idols of our own as we drift from God and take detours offered by this world. It seems that followers of Jesus have become more attune to the distractions of life and less attuned to all that God has in store.

Our drifting can take the form of feelings, emotions, lies, and distractions. One of the biggest lies we often believe is that we think we always know what is best. When I find myself trusting my own feelings instead of God’s promises, I am allowing myself to drift. When I take my eyes off of the Lord, I am suggesting that I am fully capable of handling myself and creating my own plan for my life. This reeks of haughtiness and proves that I will go to any extent to make sure I am sitting on the throne and in control.

“When I find myself trusting my own feelings instead of God’s promises, I am allowing myself to drift.”

I am usually not the first person to recognize my own drifting. Thankfully, I have people in my life who are committed to speaking the truth in love, which means when I am too fascinated with things of this world rather than the things of the Lord, they bring it to my attention. These people kindly remind me that chasing worldly things will never bring contentment, which is found in Christ alone. I will never be truly satisfied until I am satisfied in Jesus.

Whether our drifting is a result of allowing ourselves to be controlled by fear and doubt God’s sovereignty, becoming distracted with life and neglecting time with Jesus, losing sight of God’s faithfulness in a season of waiting, or becoming numb to the weightiness of God’s grace and significance of our salvation, may we learn to bind our wandering hearts to the wisdom and will of the Lord, trusting Him in every situation and believing that He knows what is best for His children.