Pursuing God

Recently, we were worshipping at a church service to a song called Pursuit by Jesus Culture.

As I sang, “I will pursue You…I will pursue Your presence…” I got a picture in my mind of literally chasing after Jesus, in pursuit of Him far ahead. Then, all of a sudden, He was right in front of me, facing me, only inches away. I didn’t understand and asked Him what it meant.

He explained that pursuit can come in different forms. It can be running AFTER someone, trying to catch up to them. However, when Someone WANTS to be pursued, rather than running AWAY, that Person wants to be “caught,” so they STOP…turn around…move toward the pursuit…and come face to face with the one pursuing them, engaging with them so that it becomes a place of intimate relationship and connection.

After nearly 24 years of marriage, I’ve finally begun to understand more fully my husband’s need to be pursued by me. I’ve always considered it to be the man’s role to pursue the woman, but in understanding his need better, I’ve understood the concept of pursuing Jesus on a deeper level.

As much as I love to be pursued by my husband because it makes me feel loved, desired, secure and beautiful in his eyes, my pursuit of him gives him much the same sense of feeling loved, accepted, and wanted, filling needs within him that only I, as his wife can fill. It makes him feel empowered, confident and secure. It takes me out of my comfort zone and it positions me to put his needs before my own, loving selflessly without expecting anything in return, but what I am given in response is far more than I could have asked for if I’d even thought of it.

It’s the same when pursuing Jesus. When I chase after Him, He is captivated by me. He stops in His tracks and turns His full, loving attention on me. Being pursued by me fills HIM in a way that only I can because there is no one else like me. There’s a place within His heart that only I can fill and He has a need for me to fill that place with my love and adoration. That doesn’t make Him any less God, any less omnipotent or less omniscient. That simply affirms the reason for our creation – to enjoy relationship with Him.

When we pursue Him, He stops for us and draws us in even deeper. We delight Him as we step out of our comfort zones and pour out our love on Him, expecting nothing in return, just offering Him our hearts and adoration.

In those moments, His response of love toward us is even greater than we could have imagined it could be and when we leave His presence, we find ourselves longing to continue our pursuit of Him.

“I will pursue You…I will pursue Your Presence…I can’t live without Your Presence….It is life to me, it is the air that I breathe, it’s everything…” (Pursuit, Jesus Culture)