Persistence

I don’t usually ride my bike. I was kind of scarred from bike riding when I had an unfortunate snow biking experience in Alaska. I won’t get into it because that’s a whole blog post. But, I’ve recently gotten over my fear of bike riding so I occasionally bike in my neighborhood. Today on my ride I turned down a back road that I usually take on my route. As I neared the end of the street a dog darted out into the road and unfortunately began to chase me. I turned my head to look at the dog and my heart dropped. It was a brown pit bull that didn't look or sound particularly happy with me. (I’m not saying pit bulls are bad dogs. My good friends have two adorable ones, but not all owners raise them to be nice…I was scared.) I told myself to be strong and began to pump my legs as fast as I could attempting to out run this dog. 

I made a right turn onto a busy road and hoped that would stop him. No luck. I began speaking prayers asking God to keep me safe, and if I happened to fall or crash that the dog would be nice and not attack me. The chase went on for about two miles. I finally lost him when I crossed paths with two men that were on a walk and I started telling them in a panic, “This isn't my dog! He’s chasing me!” I soon realized they didn't speak english, but by the grace of God the dog got distracted and ran away. I took the nearest turn and rode home as fast as I could. 

I learned a couple things in this near death experience (haha so dramatic). One, I can ride a bike way faster than I thought. My legs will feel like jello for the next week, but thank God for those spinning classes that trained me for this! Two, I often try to outrun God. There have been times in my life where God has been the dog in this story and I try with all my might to escape His grasp.

We’ve seen examples of this in the Bible. Adam and Eve may not have been running from God in the garden, but they were desperately trying to hide from Him. Not wanting to be seen, ashamed of their sin. When I try to outrun God it’s usually because I don't want Him to expose the sin that I have been hiding. I don’t want to be “found out” or have to take responsibility for what I’ve done. 

That is not how our God works. Our God doesn’t lurk around waiting to catch us in sin. He doesn’t make us feel shame for our sin. Our God is right there with us in the midst of it.

One of the girls from youth group made a beautiful point about our God: He is persistent. He will never stop pursuing us, no matter how fast we think we can pedal away. We may think we’ve lost Him. We may try to live life on our own terms with our own plans. Trust me, I’ve tried. But when we finally crash He won’t be there to attack us. He won’t be there to point a finger in our face and say “I told you so”. He will be there with open arms, ready to embrace us and bring us back. 

It’s hard to understand why such a great, powerful God would welcome me back no questions asked. One thing we need to remember when we are welcomed back is that it doesn't stop there. We have been called to love our Father with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. If we want to have a personal relationship with the Lord we need to change our mindset. We can’t view faith as something we can take out of our back pocket when we need it. Faith is a way of life that keeps God at the center of EVERYTHING. We have to let God invade our space and use us to bring glory to His name! 

I hope this story didn't just give you a good laugh. I pray this story reminds you that we have a God who is persistently pursuing us. He is not waiting to condemn us but to save us. If you've been running from God I pray this encourages you and gives you peace knowing you will always be welcomed back. And when you are, “run with perseverance the race God has set before you” (Hebrews 12:1) giving Him all the glory!