Relentless

Relentless.

What a perfect way to describe our God! He is unyielding, never ending, always working. Even when we don’t feel Him or hear Him, He is relentlessly pursuing us. He’s relentlessly pursuing me. He’s relentlessly pursuing you.

Just take a moment to let that sink in to your heart.

We are a people who worship idols and make mistakes and lash out in anger when we don’t understand the big picture unfolding before us. We are dirty and undeserving. Yet, God still pursues our messy hearts.

Relentless.

For the past year I have not felt this from God. I have not felt pursued, I have not felt loved, I have not felt heard by God. It’s like my direct line to Heaven had been cut and I was left wandering alone. I was going through a season of silence and I didn’t know what to do! I mean I was trying, I think. I was reading His Word, going to church, praying, everything… but I felt nothing.

Now I’ve felt the presence of the Lord before and how amazing it feels when He fills up my soul so it was totally discouraging to feel this dry emptiness deep within me. I was really confused. I knew that I loved God and that He loved me. I knew what His Word said about Him hearing our prayers, so why was I not getting that? Why was I feeling alone and unheard? I couldn’t see His beauty anymore or hear His truths within my heart. I grew bitter about everything around me. I was empty.

This morning I woke up and felt called to stay home from church this morning. (It was a really bizarre call, trust me, I know.) But I just had an overwhelming feeling that I needed to stay home. So as my family got ready and left for church, I sat at our kitchen table with coffee in hand. I decided to do my own devotions in the silence and privacy of our home and opened my Bible to Hosea because I had been studying it for the past week.

If you don’t know about the book of Hosea let me warn you, it will wreck your heart. It’s a new side of God’s love I had never seen before. Israel (God’s children) were running away from Him. They were doing revolting things that defied God’s Word. Imagine the sadness that must’ve brought to Him. These people He loved and cared for, didn’t want Him.

But God pursued them. He used Hosea as an example of His love. He told Hosea to marry the prostitute Gomer and love her relentlessly. And even though Gomer was unfaithful and left Hosea many times, he still pursued her because that was what Christ was doing for Israel.

God looked into their messy hearts and still loved them. He looks into our messy hearts and still loves us! And that’s just one of the stories of His never ending love for us! When the Israelites complained and turned from Him in the dessert He pursued them. When King David sinned and messed up, He pursued him. The Bible is one story of a relentless God and His love for us.

After I read this a beautiful thing happened, I started to cry. And I couldn’t stop! It’s like the wall that was surrounding my heart had crumbled and all of His truths were swarming in! After a year of not hearing from Him He was speaking to me as clear as a bell! He had been relentlessly pursuing my heart all along. I was just in the middle of my mess and couldn’t see so I did what any human does: I doubted His love for me. But then He touched my heart and everything was clear. His beauty, His love, His plan. I was His child and I was running away. But He chased after me and loved me. Because He wanted me. And my heart will never stop praising Him for it.

It doesn’t matter how messy your life is. Our God has been a God that relentlessly pursues His people out of love. And He will always be a relentless God.

“Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3

“And then I’ll marry you for good—forever! I’ll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness. Yes, I’ll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go. You’ll know me, God, for who I really am.” Hosea 2:19-20

“This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us.” 1 John 3:16

“Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.” Psalm 23:6