1. God’s Loving Pursuit
Friend, there is a reason you chose to come to this blog post.
Even if you're currently in a very dark or low place, surrounded by doubts and hopelessness, something in you still compelled you to click the link.
Part of that may be that, despite all of that, your heart desperately longs to truly know God and to feel loved by Him. So regardless of everything else, you’ve chosen to keep searching and being a bit hopeful.
The other side of that coin, as it were, is that God is lovingly pursuing you.
And maybe that idea–of God patiently, lovingly pursuing your heart and ultimately a relationship with you–is completely new to you.
I’m sure that’s the case of a lot of you listening to this episode. You’ve been exposed to a version of God where He’s harsh, and distant, and critical, and demanding, and enjoys making people suffer.
So, the idea of God purposefully pursuing you? And with patience and love? That’s naturally going to sound foreign.
But it’s true. We see this in the Bible; and we see this in the lives of others–including myself.
God pursued me for years before I finally gave my heart to Him. I wasn’t born into a household or region where the biblical truth about God was prevalent. I had also suffered abuse and had a lot of wounds.
We live in a culture that tells us that everything should be instantaneous. But in reality, a lot of things in life are processes that require time and space.
And as I went through the process that ultimately led me to give my heart and life to God, He was patiently pursuing me.
Friend, I would bet good money that God is similarly pursuing you. He knows there is misinformation that needs to be removed or replaced with truth. He knows you’re dealing with wounds and difficult situations. You may also be dealing with pressure from your friends and family when it comes to God and religion.
God also doesn’t want to force a relationship with you; nor does He want the beginning of that relationship to be hurtful because you’re not ready.
And that’s a real blessing, right? As women, how many relationships and external pressures do we face where our well-being is not considered–let alone a priority?
From how many sources–organizations, people, and the culture at large–are we encouraged to sacrifice ourselves (usually to our detriment) for the sake of someone else?
God’s not like that. While He greatly longs for a relationship with you, He’s going to pursue you with love, and patience, and your well-being in mind.
That doesn’t mean that, if danger lurks ahead, He won’t press upon you a sense of urgency. (Which is what happened to me.)
But God does not coerce or force. A relationship with Him is always an invitation–not a dictate.
Meanwhile, God is likely going to bestow other blessings.
2. God’s (Currently) Unseen Blessings
After I gave my heart to God, when I looked back, I could recognize areas where He had been at work–despite the fact that I couldn’t see it at the time.
And as I walked with Him over the next 20+ years, there were numerous times when I would look back and go, “Oh. That was God.”
Either He was preparing me or my life for something later. Or He was blessing me in a way that I didn’t recognize at the time.
At some point, I started calling these instances breadcrumbs. Because they serve as a reminder that (a) God always has a long-term plan–one that’s better than mine, and (b) He’s always with me–whether I can currently see everything He’s doing or not.
Friend, God’s loving pursuit of you is already one massive blessing. The God of the Universe wants a relationship with you!
Psalm 8:4-9 (NLT) says, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!”
God cares about you greatly. And even as you’re on this journey of discovery as He pursues you, I guarantee you that He’s also blessing you in other areas.
How? He could be blessing you by:
Providing financially. For example, keeping your job secure; getting a raise; your rent not going up; etc.
Protecting you. For example, keeping certain people or situations out of our life–including ones you’re not even aware of.
Providing truth. Again, you found this blog post. Did that seem random? It might not be a coincidence so much as God guiding your steps.
Providing support. Do you suddenly have a new co-worker who happens to be a very encouraging person? Did a “chance” encounter with a stranger at the store raise your spirits? Did a song start playing on your music platform that spoke to you in a new way? God is very good at orchestrating so-called “random” or “chance” happenings for our sake.
Providing a way out. If there are certain people, situations, or challenges that are making it harder for you to see God for who He truly is, He may provide a way to be removed from them. Maybe that’s opening up a new job or living situation for you. Or maybe that toxic roommate, co-worker, or boyfriend suddenly decides to call it quits. Again, God knows there is a process to this journey you’re on.
Providing space and time. Have you been hit by a new urge to take hikes or long walks, enjoying the beauty and quiet of being in nature? Have you been setting new boundaries so that you have some time and space to yourself? These may be conscious decisions of your own; but they could also be caused by internal nudges from God. Or, maybe that job hunt is taking longer than you planned, but it’s giving you a much-needed break where you have the time and space to focus on things that need to be at the forefront.
Again, these are just a few examples–most of which I’ve experienced myself over the years.
I highly encourage you to:
Take some time to reflect on the past few months and see if anything pops out to you.
And moving forward, focus on becoming more open and aware of God’s blessings.
Now, this may require a bit of adjustment. Why?
At first, His blessings might not be obvious to you because:
You’ve had a specific version of God in your head. In other words, if you were raised to believe that He’s harsh and critical, or that His blessings depend on your good works (which isn’t biblically true), then despite your desire to see and feel God’s love, you might naturally miss seeing His blessings because they have naturally been off your radar.
This is why taking my free quiz will give you a leg up, because the clarity and strategy it will equip you with will help you dial into His blessings more.You’ve been focused on God showing up in certain ways. As humans, we tend to focus on specific challenges, worries, and situations in our lives. And the bigger it looms, the more we focus on it. As a result, even more seasoned Christians will stop looking towards God–and recognizing His blessings–because they’re focused on the specific way they want God to come through. It essentially narrows their vision–sometimes to the point of missing the obvious work that God’s doing on their behalf.
If this sounds familiar, don’t beat yourself up. As I said, this is a natural human state that’s even challenging for Christians like myself. But do make a point of working on widening your perspective. It’s okay to pray over a specific issue or desired outcome. But at the same time, keep your eyes open for all the ways God is showing up.
You’ve been caught up in our culture’s constant state of hurry. What do I mean by hurry? I’m referring to our culture’s intense focus on always doing, moving, producing, giving, and just generally living in a constant state of hurry.
There’s a great book called The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer that I highly recommend if you’d like an easy read to dig more into this topic. (Because, spoiler alert, our world’s hurry is not aligned with God or His Kingdom. It’s also a favorite tool of our spiritual enemy, Satan.)
When we’re constantly in a state of hurry, we’re not able to fully take in what’s going on in life–including God’s blessings. Instead, we’re laser-focused on the next ten things on our ever-growing to-do list.
This is why it’s important to find time to slow down, breathe, and meditate on our lives. (And also why God will sometimes purposefully create pockets or seasons of time and space.) We can’t see things if we’re rushing past them in a blur.