To PURSUE...

As I was preparing for my first in-class sermon in my preaching class during my final year in Bible school back in 2008, the Lord began to liken different aspects of His love and care for Piper and I, to hers and my relationship throughout our time together.  At that point, we had some initial test results, but as of yet, nothing conclusive to what was happening with Piper’s health.  So, we did not really have any idea of the difficult road ahead… but as it turns out… God did and was preparing the way for us.

Little did I realize that my first sermon on our EXPECTATIONS of God’s Word working in, for and through us, and a later one on the intimate closeness and depth of GOD’S LOVE for each of us personally, would prove to be two of the big keys that would help to propel me through some of the darkest of days that we faced. 

And to liken it to Piper’s and my love, commitment, trust and intimate knowledge of each other’s makeup, in just about any regard, be it physically, spiritually, emotionally or intellectually, was an act of genius on His behalf!

When thoughts of doubt, frustration or anger would pop into my head, or I’d begin to toy with the idea of questioning God’s love and faithfulness, He would repeatedly draw my attention to my relationship with Piper… and how His with us, was just as intimate, just as faithful, just as unsinkable and just as fail-proof as we knew our relationship to be. 

When He talked to me, through that small-still-voice inside of me, along these lines… I could not argue with Him.  I knew that if He loved Piper and I as much as we did each other… then He would be true to His Word and always faithful to us.  Which He was back then and continues to be for you and me today.

While continuing on with my in-depth study of the 23^rd Psalm a couple of days ago, I was a little stumped when I read the last verse in The Passion Translation.  Here the Psalmist concludes his uplifting words of trust in the Lord, by saying, “So why would I fear the future? For your goodness and love pursue me all the days of my life. Then afterward, when my life is through, I’ll return to your glorious presence to be forever with you!” (Psalm 23:6) 

It was the idea of God pursuing us that caught my attention in this verse.  In my way of thinking and Christian training, we are the ones that are supposed to be pursing Him… not the other way around… RIGHT?   Other verses like Psalm 34:10 tell us, “…those who passionately pursue the Lord will never lack any good thing.” (TPT) Paul in his New Testament writings declared, “But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities.” (Romans 8:5 TPT)

But then there is Psalm 63:8… and as I read this verse, I had a famous Jim Berruto “DUH!” moment… followed by a forehead smacking thought of “Why, of course!”  Just as the Lord began to liken His love and care for us, to Piper and mine for each other back in 2008… I could almost see Him smiling at me and could have sworn I heard Him say… “You see Jim… it’s a two-way street” which the idioms section of the freedictionary.com describes as “a situation or relationship between two people or groups in which action is required from both parties; something that works both ways.”

The Psalmist emotionally writes in Psalm 63:8 “With passion I pursue and cling to you. Because I feel your grip on my life, I keep my soul close to your heart.”   In a recent conversation with my cousin a week or so ago, I told her that Piper and I tended to pursue each other throughout our relationship. 

To pursue or “shall follow” after someone as the King James puts it, means to “attend closely upon” or “to aim eagerly to secure.” (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions) The Oxford Online Dictionaries defines pursue as “to continue or proceed along a (specified) path or route.”  While Dictionary.com says it means “to chase after someone or something.” 

In the case of a marriage or a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to pursue would entail what each of you did in the early days of your relationship… and then continue doing whatever you did to win your partners affections, throughout your entire marriage or as a Christian… until you enter through those pearly gates!

So as far as Piper and I went, that meant that we did not stop doing nice things for each other… not because we had to… but because we GOT to and wanted to!  We quickly discovered that it was the thought that counted more than the cost.  We had a Walgreens on the way home from both my job at Hewlett Packard/Agilent and from our church.  It made for an easy way to stop and surprise Piper with something like an (inexpensive) single, long stem rose that they had fresh daily, or a small four-piece box of Russell Stover candy.  No, it wasn’t much, but it assured her of the fact that I was head over heels for her.

She would many times, sneak a special treat into my daily lunch bag, or write a short love note on my napkin or simply leave a mark of her kiss in her signature red lipstick on my napkin.  It’s not something that we did daily or necessarily weekly, but often enough  to know that each of us were still important enough for the other to go out of their way to pursue them and our relationship.

And when it comes to our Christian relationship, we should be thinking of God along the same lines that we do as we love our spouses.  Show him that you care.  Spend time with Him in His Word, in prayer, in worship, or just being quiet before Him.  Then the fun really starts as He begins to show you just how loved and special you are to him. 

I can’t come close to telling you all the times God had blessed Piper and I and our family with special treats that we never thought possible.  I spent the first year at our new house in North Carolina regularly finding little extras in the house like, extra fan lights, built in ironing center, and a new custom master bath and spa tub.  Then there was the car we bought soon after moving there. 

I never stopped discovering all the added accessories that came on that showroom quality Mustang GT convertible we “just happened” to find on a specialty car lot in Virginia.  The transport driver told us that it was, by far, the nicest car on the lot… which had numerous classic Corvettes for sale.  As I began to do research on the car after we bought it, I found out that it was originally ordered as a show car for Ford Executives and was totally loaded with just about every extra available!

After what I’ve seen… you can’t tell me that any of those many blessings were simply a coincidence!  I firmly believe that God knows exactly what He is doing and He wants to do it for you!  When Piper got sick, she never blinked an eye or ever asked if I was going to take care of her… She JUST KNEW that I would do it!  She EXPECTED it… as I would have absolutely NO DOUBT that she would have done the same for me if the roles were reversed.

God showed me all of this back in 2008 because I believe that He knew that I needed irrefutable evidence of His goodness, love and faithfulness in order to successfully weather the coming storm.  And I believe that He wants you to know the same thing!  He wants you to have irrefutable evidence that His Word is true for you in the midst of ANY situation that you may face in your life.

Do you believe that?  How well do you know and PURSUE Him?

Have a great rest of the week and as you do… Keep EXPECTING His best for your life!