The God Who Welcomes Us Home

Sunday morning, and you sit in the back pew with a heavy heart. Six months ago, you walked away from serving in your church—not because of doctrine, but because of pride. A brother corrected you publicly, and instead of receiving it with grace, you nursed the wound. You stopped attending Bible study. You avoided church gatherings. You told yourself you would return when things felt right. But things have only grown colder, and the distance between you and God has widened into a chasm.

This is the condition God addresses in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Notice that God does not demand perfection or a grand gesture. He requires four things: humbling yourself, praying, seeking His face, and turning from wicked ways. The word “turn” here is the Hebrew word *shuv*—to return, to come back, to reverse direction entirely. It is the language of repentance.

God does not hide Himself from the penitent. He promises to hear from heaven, to forgive, and to heal. This is not conditional upon your feelings or circumstances. The condition rests entirely on your willingness to humble yourself and return.

Many believers in Nigeria carry the burden of unfinished business with God. Perhaps you have compromised in your marriage by entertaining thoughts of infidelity. Perhaps you have stolen from your employer, telling yourself it was only small amounts. Perhaps you have harbored bitterness toward a family member, disguising it as righteous concern. The specifics vary, but the remedy remains unchanged: humble yourself, pray, seek His face, turn from that way.

Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God delays judgment not because He winks at sin, but because He waits for you to return. He is patient. He is kind. He has not moved; you have. And the first step toward healing is admitting that you have wandered.

In Proverbs 28:13, Solomon teaches: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Concealment breeds distance from God and distance from peace. Confession and forsaking invite mercy and restoration.

Here is your challenge: identify one area where you have drifted from God—one relationship broken, one duty abandoned, one standard compromised. Do not wait for the perfect moment or for your feelings to align. Humble yourself today. Confess specifically. Turn completely. God is waiting, not with judgment in His eyes, but with the open arms of a Father who has never stopped loving you.

Lord, grant me the courage to humble myself, confess fully, and return wholeheartedly to You.