Wander No Longer

“If you will return, O Israel,” declares the LORD, “Then you should return to Me.” Jeremiah 4:1

Return – Perhaps the most important Hebrew word you can ever learn is shuv. Why? Because it is the verb for turning to God. It is used more than 1000 times in the Bible. God calls to every man and woman: “Return to Me.” It is the verb of changing direction toward the Lord, the verb of repentance and reconciliation, the verb of the recognition of moral illness and possibility of divine healing.

David understood the importance of this verb. He spoke of his wandering until he was afflicted by the Lord. Then he awoke to his pitiful condition and returned to the house of God. That is why David is a man after God’s own heart. David knew the need to come back.

Our lives are filled with wandering in the worst sense of the word. We try to live with our curses, fighting against circumstances and God’s providential correction. We move through life by trial (lots of them) and error (more than we would like to admit). We shun God’s ordered direction because we want some input in His commands. And so we flee the Lover of our souls. We struggle and shake, shudder and tremble, dreading His presence because we are lost in the dark night of Nod. And all the time, God is pleading with us to learn shuv. “Come back to Me where you will find comfort, clarity and confirmation.”

There are at least six Hebrew words for wandering. They cover the ground from Cain to the wilderness, from moral straying to drunken stumbling. But there is only one solution to all of our aimlessness. Shuv. Return to the Lord.

Shun God’s call and wander in the desert or shuv and experience His grace.