"And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, 'If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.'"

Twenty years.

Let that sink in for a moment. Israel lamented after the Lord for twenty years. Twenty years of crying out to God. Twenty years of wanting things to change. Twenty years of religious activity. And nothing changed.

How is that possible? There is a difference between lamenting and returning. You can cry for change. You can ask God for change. You can even try to change yourself. But if you're not returning... if you're not actually coming back to Him on His terms... you're just making noise.

Samuel asked Israel a sobering question. He said, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart..."

"If." That little word carries so much weight. Because Samuel knew what Israel didn't want to admit. They wanted God to fix their situation without them fixing their devotion. They wanted deliverance from the Philistines without deliverance from their idols. They wanted the blessing without the obedience.

Did you know...you can miss God while mourning for God? You can lament His absence while refusing His terms.

Maybe that's where some of us have been. Attending church but not connecting. Reading the Bible but not changing. Praying but not surrendering. Going through all the motions but seeing none of the results.

The problem is not that God is distant. The problem is that we want Him on our terms instead of His.

Samuel made it clear. If you are returning... really returning... then there are things that must happen. Things must be put away. Devotion must be singular. Hearts must be directed.

So what's the difference between lamenting and returning? Direction. Lamenting is crying out while staying where you are. Returning is actually moving toward God, even when it costs you something.

I wonder how many of us have been in a twenty year cycle. Not literally, maybe. But spiritually. Years of seeking without seeing. Years of wanting God to show up while we refuse to let go of the things He's asking us to release.

This is your moment to break the cycle. Not by trying harder. But by returning completely. On His terms. Not yours.

Tomorrow we'll look at what it means to return with all your heart. Because that's where real change begins.

1. Have you been lamenting after God without actually returning to Him? What might that look like in your life?
2. What terms has God been asking you to accept that you've been resistant to?

Ask yourself honestly today... am I seeking God on my terms or His? Write down one area where you've been asking God to meet you without being willing to meet His conditions.