the pursuer of your heart.

“ To have found God and still pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love.”

    -A.W Towzer 

 

I have heard the word pursue all my life. My mom has always told me that the Father pursues me. She told me when I was younger that when I got old enough to date, I was the one who was supposed to be pursued. She has instilled pursuit into me, and for that, I thank her.

Throughout my life, relationships with friends, family, etc, I was the pursuer. I longed to want to be a part of a group of people. So I made it my job to pursue people. I reached out. I planned. I did everything. I eventually got to a point where I made it my responsibility. I didn’t know how to be pursued. I didn’t know how to accept being pursued. I didn’t know what it truly meant to be pursued by the Father. I thought I had to pursue Him. I felt like I had to have this cookie-cutter routine in order to really feel connected and pursued by the Lord. I would sit down, do my “routine”, all while, I never even said ‘hi” to Him. 

So take a wild guess what the Father has been showing me this week in such a passionate, overwhelming, lovely way?

Pursuit. 

 

Long before you were born, God was intent on loving and pursuing you. Before you ever took your first breath, He embraced you. His love was and has always been there in the darkness. When you first screamed and shook your fist at Him, He loved you. There was never a moment the Father didn’t embrace you into His loving arms, and hold you. 

Abba has CHOSEN to love you purely by His unbridled passion to captivate your heart. He has been pursuing you long before you ever thought about pursuing Him. 

Just as Hosea continued to pursue an unfaithful wife, God continues to pursue His unfaithful children. 

Oddly enough, He has shown me pursuit and a beautiful picture of it in a way I would never think He would’ve. In a book. I have talked about this book all week… ask my teammates and mom. 

    Redeeming Love. 

I’m not even done with it yet, but WOW. The Father’s heart for us. His longing for our hearts is so overwhelming it makes me speechless. I have had tears well up in my eyes just thinking about His pursuit of me. I have felt this warmth, giddy feeling of the fact that He wants me. He chases after me. He chases after you. He wants to captivate your heart. 

If you haven’t read Redeeming Love, I highly suggest it! I’m not exaggerating when I say this, but it has completely transformed my heart and the way I view pursuit. It is a depiction of the book Hosea. It is a beautiful picture and example of how the Father constantly pursues us and chases us down even when we are unfaithful. Even when we scream at Him. Even when we betray Him. He still chooses to chase us down. 

Hosea did just that. The Lord told Hosea to marry a woman who was going to be unfaithful to Him. They married, had children and she still went back to her old ways. After all that Hosea had done for her. After pursuing her and loving her over and over again, she still decided to depart from him and hurt him. 

 

How many times have we done that? How many times have we departed from Abba, doubted Him, tried to hide from Him? All while, He is taking every hit, every blow, every slanderous word. Can you imagine how hard it must be to love someone who doesn’t even want to spend time with you? I can’t imagine the heartache Abba feels- yet He still chooses me. He still chooses you. 

 One of my favorite songs says it best: 

I have seen this all before, it is all too familiar

But you will never see the bottom of My storehouses of love

So as you use the night to make your flight,

No choice that you will make, or path you take will change My mind

Even if one day you decide, you will find somewhere else to hide

I will walk your way, and call your name, and wait for your reply

Even if you make up in your mind, you don’t want to be by My side

I will leave behind 99, oh that you’d be mine

I’m gonna leave behind 99, oh that you’d be mine

Even if you stomp and scream and huff, tell Me that I’m not good enough

I’ll take every swing and every blow, until you know My love

Even if you beat upon My chest, tell Me that you don’t understand

I will love you and teach you to love Me again

I’m gonna love you and teach you to love Me again

-Runaway by Jess Ray 

There is nothing we can ever do to keep Abba from pursuing us. There is no sin too great. We can never outrun His love. He is pursuing your heart. He is sweetly knocking at the door of your heart. And when you finally let Him in and allow Him to pursue you, oh what a sweet, beautiful, lovely relationship it is. There is absolutely nothing like it. 

 

Now I know what it means to be pursued while pursuing Him at the same time. In the healthiest, most beautiful way possible. To have found Him truly, and fully allow Him to pursue me, is truly the soul’s paradox of love. 

 

So even with all your scars, mistakes, wounds… 

the pursuer of your heart still loves you. Truly, madly, passionately. 

 

much love, 

    gracie <3