In Pursuit

I’ve been plagued recently with trying to understand why faith comes so easily to some of us while it seems an impossibility for others. Why is it that some of us can look at a rainbow and see nothing but God’s promise to Noah and his family and others can see nothing but the refraction of light caused by the sun shining during a rain storm. The truth is, of course, that both of these are correct. It’s just that those of us who are in constant pursuit of God will inevitably see God in every detail of our lives while those that are not tend to regularly miss Him. So the ultimate question is, what are you in pursuit of? Your career? Your children? A husband/wife? The weekend? Your next vacation? Whatever it is, if there is no pursuit of God that co-exists at the same time, without a doubt your faith (or what could be your faith) will suffer. Deuteronomy 4:29 says “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Seek the Lord with all your heart and soul. Can you honestly say you are doing that in concert with all the other things that you chase after in life? Or does any sort of pursuit of God get thrown to the wayside in order to make way for whatever else might feel good at the moment? It’s a legit question that all believers must ask of themselves especially if we find ourselves in a season of really weak faith. Paul says in Acts 17, “From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.” So basically we were created with one purpose in mind… to seek after God. So it is no wonder why so many people feel out of whack in their personal lives leading them to search and search for meaning in all sorts of ways yet never feel fulfilled. They’ve missed the very reason for their existence in the first place.

I have mentioned before that I work with high school students at my church and have on occasion had the opportunity to be a counselor at various student events that we have sponsored. Basically this just means that at some point after the speaker is finished, they will invite anyone to come forward who needs to speak to an adult about anything that is on their mind. Many come forward seeking salvation, but another common theme I have found among teenage girls that I’ve had the opportunity to speak with has been a lack of “closeness” to God even after they have asked Jesus to come into their hearts for salvation. Often times this will be followed up by statements that sound a lot like, “I know I am not living the way God wants me to right now and I am hanging out with people that I know aren’t good for me. I feel bad about it and try to pray, but I don’t really feel anything.” I am kind of ashamed to admit it, but there was a time not too long ago when I tended to be a bit apologetic on behalf of God in the way that I answered these types of statements. It was as if I felt the need to give the girls a pass on their “not living the way God wants me to” statements and just sort of gloss over anything that might come across as a need to actually do any work.  That was until a very wise friend told me something one day that was so simple I immediately felt remorse for not having shared it with these girls in my care. She said, “A person can have as much Jesus as they choose to have.” Wow. Like that is so simple a statement yet it was so profound to me in that moment because it made me realize how much time I was spending trying to sugarcoat people’s sin in order to make them feel better about themselves. I didn’t want to drive someone away from church by making them feel like they actually had to work at this whole relationship with God thing. No way, I wanted them to feel comfortable above all else. Ugh, even now I wish I could go back and find those girls and tell them how sorry I am for being too puny to tell them the truth! You don’t feel a closeness to God right now because you are too busy running after every little desire of your flesh and while you are completely engaged in a committed and loving relationship with your sin, you WILL NOT be engaged in the same with the Savior. Period. It’s really just that simple. You can not have one foot rooted in the world and one foot rooted in Christ. It will not work because frankly, He ain’t got time for that. You are absolutely free to choose whatever you wish and He will be there with open arms whenever you come to the end of your rope (however many times that is), but while you are freely pursuing everything else besides a relationship with Jesus, you should absolutely expect Him to let you do it.

Something else that has been on my mind lately is the nature of the occasional sin that ALL believers find themselves battling day after day versus the unbroken, unrepentant life pattern of sin that defines unbelievers. In the scenario above with the girls I spoke about, clearly there was something (more accurately someONE) that was causing them to feel remorse over the current course of their lives. To me, the “struggle” with sin is actually evidence in itself of true salvation. The fact that someone feels anguish within themselves over behaviors they know deep down aren’t pleasing to God is proof that He has a residence there. Otherwise, where’s the struggle? Why in the world would someone feel any sort of “Godly sorrow” in their heart if He didn’t reside there? “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this Godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” (2 Corinthians 7:10-11) We mostly hear this stated as “conviction.” Someone feels conviction in their heart about something that isn’t quite right and they ask forgiveness and all is well again. Well who do you think brings the conviction (or sorrow, earnestness, eagerness to clear yourself, indignation, alarm, longing, concern or readiness to see justice done)? God of course. And once it’s there, it’s generally set in until you deal with it properly. Oh you can mask it with all sorts of things and pretend it’s not really happening, but believe me I speak from experience when I say there’s no amount of anything that will give you peace (not just any sort of peace, I am talking about unexplainable peace that sets you free like you’ve NEVER been) than finally coming to your knees and asking God to forgive you and set you on a new path. Notice also that the verse says “and leaves no regret.” All of the things that you might think will never be replaced if you have to give them up… relationships, experiences, “fun” activities, etc… will not only be replaced in time, but you will never look back and regret having given them up once you experience the ultimate satisfaction of living a life in pursuit of God.

Another idea that I have heard a lot over the past several years as an excuse for someone refusing to pursue a relationship with God is that they “grew up in a legalistic church and you just can’t possibly understand how terrible that was.” That’s a correct statement. I can’t fathom how awful it was, but I also don’t have to be an alcoholic to fathom how much damage that can do to a person either. And just like an alcoholic needs help to re-enter society on the right foot, so does someone who has been deeply wounded by a church that was supposed to be a place of unconditional love and support. But here’s the thing, you have to take the first step. Although God allowed those hurtful things to happen, He didn’t cause them to happen. Sinful, fallen human beings caused those things to happen and thankfully you got out of there. Now it’s time for your re-entry and this time you will know what to look for in a church family and more importantly what to avoid. Another important point to consider though is what a legalistic church really looks like. Did they tell you things like you will be happy in life if (and only if) you follow our church rules and you’ll be punished in life if you don’t? Did they emphasize obedience to pastors and other leaders as being equal to obedience to God? Did they tell you you were sinning if you had a difference of opinion on non-essential things? Did they silence honest questions and any form of constructive criticism? If so, you definitely grew up in a legalistic church and the damage that may have been done is substantial. On the flip side, did your preacher talk about sin and the reality of hell in his sermons on Sunday mornings? Did your church emphasize obedience to the Lord in the way you live your life? Did your church encourage you to admit your sins, believe in Jesus and confess your faith in Him? You did not grow up in a legalistic church. You grew up in a church that preached truth from the pulpit and although “sin” and “hell” and “obedience” are unpopular words, that doesn’t make the message any less true. A legalistic church hammers a person not to sin mainly because of the outward appearance of that sin reflecting badly on the church as a whole. A Christ-centered church encourages it’s congregation to live a life of obedience over sin because of the peace and joy they will find in the internal condition of their heart. Legalism stresses the outward appearance of perfection while Christ-centeredness leads to inward heart regeneration. And when a heart is truly saved by faith in Jesus, it’s that regeneration that causes us to feel separated from God when we mess up and to feel an urgency to make things right again. It’s that regeneration that causes us to long for the closeness with our Savior that comes through regular times of prayer, bible study and church worship. Growing up in a legalistic church doesn’t give you a spiritual pass for the rest of your life. God is sad about those things that made you sad, but now He is inviting you to pursue Him all over again and this time surrounded by a Christ-centered church family that lifts up instead of tears down. If you grew up in a church that encouraged you not to get drunk on the weekends, sleep around, use cuss words or be a gossip, you may not have liked it because it cut into your fun, but don’t confuse hard truths with legalism. “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16:26.

Another obvious reason for someone not to pursue God is just general unbelief. Many people unfortunately find themselves in the situation where their “higher learning” can’t possibly coincide with spirituality. Faith and science can not coexist. But here’s the thing, there are literally so many references now a days that support the plausibility of creation that this argument doesn’t stand any longer. I am not about to get into specifics on either side of the creation vs. evolution debate because there are world renowned scientists out there doing it for us, but I want to share a couple of things I gleaned from an article I read recently on this topic. The writer of this article was on the evolution side of things, but made some interesting statements. He said, “Anti-religion scientists such as Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss and Stephen Hawking have overstated science's power to solve all the secrets of the universe. Yes, science has helped us map out the structure and history of reality, from the largest to the smallest scales. And yet the origin of the universe and of life and the nature of consciousness remain paradoxically as mysterious as ever.” Again, he was on the evolution side. He also said, “Science and religion converge in one important way. The more scientists investigate our origins, the more improbable our existence seems. If you define a miracle as an infinitely improbable event, then our existence, you might say, is a miracle. Scientists try in vain to hand-wave our improbability away with silly tautologies such as the anthropic principle, which says that reality must be as we observe it to be, because otherwise we wouldn't be here to observe it. During so-called religious or mystical experiences, we experience reality's miraculousness—and especially its goodness--in a powerful, visceral way, which makes it hard to believe that reality stems from pure chance." He goes on to explain why he is not “religious” and one of the main reasons he can’t justify it is the existence of evil. He even quotes religious scholar Huston Smith who said this issue is “the shoal on which all theologies founder.” The writer says, “If God is all-powerful, just and loving, why then is existence so painful and unfair for so many people? Why do kids get cancer? Why do earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters kill so many people? I have never encountered a satisfying solution to the problem of evil (although a psychedelic trip more than 30 years ago briefly convinced me that I had solved it).” That last part made me laugh out loud. Here’s the thing that I think so many people don’t understand, believers AND unbelievers. Where in the world did we ever get the idea that life is supposed to be easy? Have you ever read the bible? It’s rough. I mean, just chock full of despair, hurt, sickness, death, war, famine, etc. No where in there does it promise us a life full of nothing but ice cream sundaes. In fact, Jesus Himself said in John 15, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” The world is going to hate me for my beliefs. That doesn’t sound like a party to me. And I know it’s hard for someone in the evolution camp to understand the implications of Adam and Eve’s original sin in the garden as the root cause of “evil” in the world because they can’t reconcile that they even existed in the first place so round and round it goes. But ultimately, for those of us that choose to put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ, we know the bible tells us in Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” The word “everything” here means the cancer, the death, the earthquakes and tsunamis, the divorce, the addiction, the social injustice, the EVERYTHING. And nope, we don’t get to know the behind the scenes details as God works all of this junk out for the good of those who love Him, but we press on anyway. If you have been brought up to believe that Christian living is the way to endless happiness, you have been mis-lead. The best of the best of the best lose their relatives to disease every single day and the worst of the worst of the worst seem to prosper in ways we can never understand. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) There is a lot of pride in not being able to admit that there are just certain things we are not yet able to understand. And the only alternative for these folks is to limit themselves to seeking only the things that are visible to their eyes and calling it enlightenment. They will search and search the world over for greater knowledge only to find disappointment because in the end Jesus is the only answer for the soul’s total fulfillment. With Him your soul can be at rest. The inner longings for something yet undefined can turn to perfect clarity in a moment of time. Lay down those burdens and that pride and pick up a bible and begin your pursuit today.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Love to all of you!

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