Pursued

“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6).

There’s an old joke about two friends camping in the woods. It goes something like this: Stan and Andy are sitting by their tent when they see a ferocious, growling bear running toward them. Stan starts putting on his tennis shoes. Andy says, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear!”  Stan replies, “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you!”

We may never be chased by a bear, but we are being pursued. The goodness and unfailing love of our heavenly Father pursues us. And we can’t outrun it. It will pursue us relentlessly all the days of our lives. Summer or winter, weekdays or weekends, sunny days or rainy days, when we’re successful and when we fail, the love and goodness of God will be there.

Goodness and unfailing love are part of God’s character. These traits spring from the very essence of God. This means that those who seek God are rewarded with the constant presence of goodness and love.

Even if we wanted to, we can’t get away from his love: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38).

No event in our lives shuts down the flow of God’s goodness and unfailing love. Fear, worry, demons, even death cannot move us out of the reach of God’s love. He just keeps following us, chasing us, pursuing us, and wrapping us in the security and protection of his goodness and love.

We don’t deserve God’s extravagant love or his goodness and mercy toward us, but he showers us with it anyway. Parts of the future may be unclear, but we know that when we wake up tomorrow, his lovingkindness will greet us. It will be there for every one of our tomorrows, for all the days of our lives.

Dear God, I don’t always deserve your love, but I am so thankful you love me anyway. Your extravagant, never-failing love amazes me. My soul rests easy knowing your love will relentlessly pursue me and you will never stop loving me. Teach me to love others as you love me. In Jesus’s name, amen.