He always comes after us:

Once every month or every other month, I work in preschool during church.  In one of the more recent times, I got the chance to do my favorite thing in preschool, and this is to read books to some of the kids that are in there.  I had a small group who wanted to sit really close to me and listen to me read a whole bunch of small books.  It is amazing how sometimes the smallest and the simplest things can make you realize how much God loves you, how important forgiveness is, and how we need to be grateful for everything the Lord has made.

For example this day I read the book, “The Runaway Bunny,” by Margaret Wise Brown.  I had never read this book before.  This book is all about a bunny who tells his mom that he is going to run away.  Every time he tells her how he is going to run away, his mom tells him how she is going to follow him and bring him back to her.  One time, he says that he will become a fish, and she said that she would become a fisherman who fishes him out of the water and brings him back to her.  The book goes on and on, and eventually, the bunny decides to stay with his mom where he belongs.  This story was beautiful.  The love this mom has for her son was lovely to read about in this small book.  

This book, obviously, really showed that God always comes and finds us.  The mother had unconditional love for the bunny.  She wanted him to be safe and to feel loved, even though he was being ungrateful at the moment.  The Lord never wants us to be away from him.  Even though we are constantly running away from the Lord and we are constantly getting distracted, we are still being searched out by the Lord.  There are many references in the Bible to the Lord coming back for his people.  One is in the Old Testament and that is the story of Hosea and his wife, and the second one is in the New Testament with the story of the Prodigal Son.  

I think a great example of this in the Bible is the story of Hosea.  He was a prophet who was actually married to a prostitute and she did not remain faithful.  She would often run away from her husband.  Even though Hosea was angry, he was always told by God to go after his wife and return her.  He was told to continually forgive his wife, even though she had done wrong by him.  The Lord kept telling Hosea to love his wife, even though it must have been incredibly challenging. At the same time, this is happening to Hosea in his personal life, the book of Hosea follows the up and down of the relationship the Israelites have with the Lord.  The Lord was also working in the hearts of the Israelites to get them to come back to Him as opposed to straying away and continually falling in sin.    

Another great example is the beloved story of the Prodigal son.  The prodigal son is a classic story of unconditional love and belonging.  A younger son ran away from home and decided to take his inheritance money and spend it any way he desired which ended up leaving him poor, with no food, water, shelter, etc.  However, he then decided to go back to his father’s house to at least be a servant.  His father had been very rich and had a lot of servants, food, water, nice clothes, and a huge house.  He returned home, and his father was filled with joy.  He threw a grand party.  He hugged him and gave him the best clothes.  He had unconditional love for his son, who was never begotten, just like the mother bunny in the story that I read to the preschool students.  The Lord wants to chase you, feed you, clothe you, and make sure that you are safe and protected.  

I think the Lord chases us in the big moments and in the small moments.  I know, for myself, personally, I have been chased with bigger items like a job opportunity at the Bridge in Storm Lake.  Even though I was a Christian, I wasn’t always living my life to the fullest when it came to the love of the Lord.  Then I found the job at the Bridge, and I knew that this opportunity would bring me closer to the Lord and closer to fellowship.  God has also chased me in the small items like simple conversations with students and coworkers, and even through small inspirational moments that remind me to write in my blog or in my journal.  

Lastly, this all reminds me of Romans 8:34, which says “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”  Jesus intercedes for us.  He majorly interceded for us when he died on the cross for our sins.  Then he continually intercedes for us throughout our lives.  He is talking to the Lord and is working out his plans throughout his people and the items in the world.  Let him work in your life.  Let him take the wonderful small moments, and the amazing big moments and use them for his glory.  Let him intercede and chase after you.  Maybe through this reminder, he won’t have to chase after very hard because you will be chasing him just as well.