Sometimes it feels like God backs away from you when you hit hard times, but that’s not true. (see Psalm 34:18)

But how can you walk away from something and still come back to it?

If someone is not treating you with love and respect, it is a gift if they walk away from you. If that person doesn't walk away, you will surely endure many years of suffering with him or her. Walking away may hurt for a while, but your heart will eventually heal. Then you can choose what you really want. You will find that you don't need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.

Although every believing Christian understands that God guides our steps, fewer and fewer emphasize the point. A God working actively in the world makes us uneasy. We tend to like our God distant and a bit malleable, ready to bend to every new human idea. A God with a will of his own is too scary, and, besides, he might get in the way of our satisfaction of immediate desire.

If someone is not treating you with love and respect, it is a gift if they walk away from you. If that person doesn’t walk away, you will surely endure many years of suffering with him or her. Walking away may hurt for a while, but your heart will eventually heal. Then you can choose what you really want. You will find that you don’t need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.

I've watched closely and I believe most people who turn from God do so for one of two basic reasons. One, they mistake some aspect of religion as God (like Anton LaVey did). Or two, they are unable to overcome their need to understand what can not be understood. I honestly don't think it's easy to turn from God if we see Him as He really is. Every Satanist I've ever encountered has fallen into one of those two categories. They either have a warped, distorted perception of God, based on what they were taught by some idiot, or they don’t believe in the goodness or even the existence of God because of the injustice of the world. The first is a problem of perception. The second is a problem of pride. Both are hard to get past.

The challenge may not go away when you pray, and when it doesn't go away, it simply means God believes that He has trained you enough to face it and win.

Would you walk away from Omelas?

Sometimes God will place a wall on your path to force you to go in another direction.

And if we choose to disobey God, to disobey the words of our mouth, of course, we will go astray.

It takes God to please God. We can not walk this path relying on our own strength, or else we will fall.

I will help you approach if you approach, and to keep away if you keep away.

Sometimes...it's better for a man just to walk away.
But if you can't walk away?
I guess that's when it's tough.

65. If you long to pray, then avoid all that is opposed to prayer. Then when God draws near, he has only to go along with you.