God's Pursuit

"Although the LORD sent prophets to the people

to bring them back to him,

and though they testified against them,

they would not listen."

2 Chronicles 24:19

They walked in the cool of the day through the beautiful garden, enjoying the company of their Creator.  Dew drops shimmered in the early morning light, transforming their home into a magical land.  The first man and woman basked in the glow of the attentions of their Father, relating to Him openly and without fear.  Their hearts were fully exposed to Him; nothing could be better.

Then came the sin, the disobedience, the turning away.  Suddenly, fear entered in, ruining the fellowship they once knew with God.  Instead of running toward Him with the eagerness of a child greeting his father, they cowered in the shadows, dreading His attentions.  Still, despite their transgression, the Creator sought them out, going after His wayward ones (Genesis 3).

From the beginning, the Lord has been a God of pursuit.  He didn't leave Adam and Eve where they were, trembling in shame and fear, and He doesn't wash His hands clean of me, either.  He patiently and relentlessly goes after me in more ways than I know.

Salvation.  There was a multitude bleating on the hillside, crowding together in a tight group, drawing comfort from each others' presence.  The shepherd circled around his herd, carefully taking stock of his charges.  He sensed that something was wrong; one was missing.  Without hesitation, he leaves the 99 and searches for the one who is lost (Matthew 18:12-14).

This is the heart of God.  He does not desire that any are lost and He goes to whatever lengths are necessary to draw His own into relationship with Himself (2 Peter 3:9, John 6:44).  In fact the perfect evidence of this love is Jesus.  God's love drove Him to send His only Son as a sacrifice so that I could taste freedom from eternal punishment (Romans 5:8).  

Jesus didn't surrender His divinity and enter into His creation as a lowly man to find me guilty, to root out my shortfalls and to point to my sin.  Instead, Jesus came to save me from the wrath of God (John 3:16-17).  My sin earned condemnation, but Jesus came to give me what I don't deserve: redemption, the hope of life eternal and reconciliation in the here and now with the One who makes my life complete.

God's relentless pursuit is evident in His plan for my salvation.

Sanctification.  The refiner carefully holds his treasure to the hottest part of the fire.  Knowing it takes intense heat to purify the silver, he is not hesitant to place it in the blazing-hot furnace.  Knowing also that too much exposure could injure his charge, he carefully watches, never taking his eyes off this precious metal.  He knows when the refining process is finished when the gleaming silver reflects his own image.

God sits as such a refiner of silver (Malachi 3:3).  He is not hesitant to allow trouble, heartache and trial to enter my life, knowing that such heat is necessary to burn out all the impurities found in my heart.  As I endure such agony, I must remember that His hand never leaves me.  He watches carefully so that I will not be burned (Isaiah 43:2).  His goal is not my suffering but transformation.  It is His desire that I be conformed into the image of Christ and only He knows what kind of tests are necessary to reach that end (Romans 8:28-29).

God's relentless pursuit is evident in the life-long sanctification process (Philippians 1:6).

Intimacy.  I'm not naturally inclined to intimacy.  Instead, I tend to put up walls of protection, guarding against any rejection of my true self, the pain of pointing fingers, and my fear of abandonment.  Even though God loves me perfectly and accepts me right where I am, it takes time and patience to get me to trust Him enough to let Him in.

Thankfully, God has the kind of patience that is necessary to woo me into a closeness with Him.  Despite the fact that He won't hurt me in the way I've grown accustomed to, it takes time for me to realize this truth.  As I grow in my relationship with Him, I start to trust Him, giving me the confidence to remove the masks I tend to wear.  Soon I find that I can depend on Him more and more and pose less and less.  Before I know it, I'm letting Him look fully upon my sinful heart so He can lovingly examine it for offense (Psalm 139:23-24).

God's relentless pursuit is evident in His patient quest for intimacy with me (Revelation 3:20).

It's sometimes hard to picture God as the One who goes after me, but His great love doesn't allow forfeiture.  Instead, He eagerly desires me and has gone to great lengths to win me over.  He offered the ultimate sacrifice to secure my salvation, carefully takes me through the refiner's fire to sanctify me, and waits as long as it takes for me to feel comfortable in trusting Him.  In these ways He reveals His relentless pursuit of me.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can appreciate the heart of a God who would go after me so persistently.

When do I put off His advances?

How am I hesitant to trust Him fully?         

Principle of the Wave

"Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD

as a wave offering from the Israelites,

so that they may be ready

to do the work of the LORD."

Numbers 8:11

I spent little time tending to the fruit trees.  A friend of mine told me I needed to fertilize them, but I never got around to it.  It was no surprise, then, that when it came time to harvest there was little fruit to find and minimal growth to detect.

I can expect to get out of my garden in proportion to what I put into it.  This principle is also found in the wave offering, a special offering established by the Lord where people would bring thanks, oath or other voluntary offerings and wave them before the Lord in the Tabernacle.  This waving motion was a symbol of how we give to the Lord and then He gives back to us.

Jesus taught this same idea when He said, "Give, and you will receive.  Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.  The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." (Luke 6:38 NLT)

When I give my attention, time and gifts to the Lord, pouring my life out to Him like an offering, I receive as much, if not more, than what I give. (Romans 12:1)

Experience

I had never done anything like it before.  It was hard to even picture myself teaching a class of children.  Still, I stepped forward in faith, responding to the call to teach Sunday School that I sensed God placing on my heart all those years ago.  Week after week I presented the lessons.  Month after month went by as I learned valuable lessons and gained understanding and know how into the craft of teaching.  By the time my family and I moved away from Ft Bragg, I had learned many valuable lessons and acquired 3 years of experience in teaching children.

My confidence in the Lord's willingness to give me the tools necessary to accomplish the mission to which He called me grew as I trusted Him enough to act on His calling on my life.  If I had sat back, afraid to try, I would never know the awesome power that comes when I place myself in His hands and trust Him fully to equip me for the job at hand.  After all, it is not up to me to carry out the task.  Rather, it is God working through me Who is faithful to complete the work He desires to be done.

Therefore, when I offer myself to Him, I need not be afraid of what He will ask me to do.  Like Moses learned when he offered God every excuse in the book as to why he couldn't go to Pharaoh to deliver the message God had for him, I will find out that my success or failure is not based on my own skills, worth or abilities. (Exodus 4:11-12) Instead, the accomplishment of the mission to which God has called me is entirely based on His power working through me.

When I use the gifts God has given me, I gain experience and confidence in the Lord.

Faith

The boy offered all he had to give; five small loaves of bread and two little fish.  What good would that do in feeding a crowd of five thousand men plus uncounted women and children?  It turns out the small offering was more than enough.  Jesus took what the boy had given and multiplied it until they were overflowing with food.  When the feast was over, the disciples collected up twelve basket-fulls of leftover bread. (John 6:1-14)

It goes without saying that the faith of those gathered there that day grew as they witnessed such an astounding act of God's power.  No one had ever seen such a thing!  From that time forward, these people began to consider Jesus, if not the Messiah, at least as a prophet from the Lord.  The witnesses knew there was something different about this Jesus and there is no doubt that they would pay attention to whatever He said from that time forward.

My faith also grows when I step out into the dark, scary places to which God has called me to go.  As I see Him work through me, providing for my needs, supplying the tools necessary, and affording me the energy required, I am more likely to respond eagerly the next time He calls and the easier it is for me to believe that God is who He says He is.   

As a human, it is hard for me to believe something I cannot see with my own eyes.  Ironically, faith requires me to do just that:  to be sure of what I hope for but have no physical evidence to back that expectation up, and to have a conviction of the reality of these things of which I have no proof of their existence. (Hebrews 11:1)

When God says, then, that there is nothing that can separate me from His love, I will be able to take Him at His word and walk boldly through the shadow that crosses over my heart, bringing me into a time of grief and suffering that leads me closer to Him.  (Romans 8:38-39)  When He reminds me that there is nothing I can do of eternal significance apart from Him, I will be able to believe enough in what He says to cease all the meaningless activities and service and focus solely on where He is leading me.  (John 15)  When He tells me there is no need to fear because He is with me, I can trust Him enough to know my feelings of isolation and loneliness are not accurate. (Psalm 23:1-4, Psalm 139:5-10) 

The more I offer of myself to the Lord, the more my faith in Him will grow as I see God work in and through me.

Intimacy

My husband lost his brother in a shooting a year ago.  At the time, it was hard for any of us to comprehend that this fun-loving father of five was gone.  There was much grief and sorrow as my husband thought about all times he had shared with his little brother and of the years ahead that would be devoid of his presence.  As our family walked through this dark time, we each turned to the Lord for comfort.  As we did so, we experienced the kind of healing that only He can bring to those with a broken heart. (Isaiah 61:1-3, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

Walking with the Lord through difficulty leads to a deeper bond with Him.  As I draw near to Him to find comfort, guidance and reassurance, He comes closer to me in response.  (James 4:8)  Similarly, as I trust God enough to step out in faith in obedience to His calling, I will find in return a closer bond with Him.  The more I trust Him, the closer I will grow to Him.  

Not only will I find that my relationship with the Lord will be tighter as I give of myself, but my bond to other believers will grow stronger as well.  As I give to the Lord of my life, trusting Him enough to live authentically before Him, others will be drawn to what God is doing in me.  As I work side-by-side with my brothers and sisters in Christ, we will grow closer as we share our hearts with each other.  

Serving God and others in obedience to His calling leads to a closer relationship with the Lord and His family.

In Old Testament times, the wave offering demonstrated the principle of giving and receiving found in God's kingdom that I can still experience today.  When I give of my life to the Lord, sharing the time, gifts and talents He has so generously bestowed upon me, I will find as much if not more coming back to me.  I will gain experience, faith and intimacy with God and others as I give of myself in faith.  This is the principle of the wave offering.

As I begin this day, it is my prayer that I can remember all the benefits that are mine if I would trust God enough to move my feet in the direction He is pointing me.

When do I fear so much that I'm paralyzed, unable to obey the Lord?

What have I gained from giving to the Lord?