Two years ago I prayed and asked the Father to give me a word for the year. The word He gave me was pursue. I thought to myself, “Yes! I will pursue You this year with my whole heart! I’m going all in!” I even had a necklace made with the word stamped on a key to remind me to pursue Him. I prayed, read my Bible and other Christian books, volunteered at church, and took classes about hearing His voice and living a supernatural life. I learned and grew in my faith tremendously, but it seemed like it was never enough.
Earlier this year, everything was stripped away. I couldn’t go to church, couldn’t volunteer, couldn’t take any more classes and because of that it felt like I couldn’t do enough to “pursue” Him. Then one night, He sweetly whispered to me, “there is no striving.” All of a sudden, I realized that by doing all of those things, I was trying to earn His love.
But here’s the thing about our Father, He gives His love completely and freely. He doesn’t wait for us to get to a certain level or accomplish a checklist to give us His love, He just loves us! Not only does He love us, but He likes us. The God of the universe likes you! Stop and think about that for a minute. The God that created everything in this whole universe likes YOU. He delights in YOU. He cherishes YOU. If that doesn’t make you want to weep with joy, I don’t know what will! When I got the revelation of that truth, everything changed. I realized that I no longer had to do things for His love, but rather I do them from the overflow of His love.
A few weeks ago at church, my pastor talked about how the Father is actually the one pursuing us and it hit me; two years ago when I thought I was pursuing Him, it was actually Him that was pursuing me! As I look back over the past few years, I can see it. I can see how His love was wooing me and drawing me closer to Him. All of the “work” I did wasn’t wasted either, because it all led me to His sweet whispers of revelation. He loved me enough to reveal and remove layers of lies and misconceptions that I had believed for years.
Two years ago I had a necklace made to remind me to pursue Him, but now it’s a reminder that the Father has constantly been pursuing me.
And here’s the good news, He’s doing the same thing to you, friend. He is pursuing you! Every minute of every day, He is thinking about you and drawing you closer to His heart. His love is better than we could’ve ever imagined!
“I thought I knew what love was
But it’s better, it’s better!
I thought I knew what love was
It’s brighter, it’s brighter!”
-Lean Back
Maverick City Music
–Natasha