A Curious Pursuit

I’m reading a book on spiritual influence and this is a quote that made me think about our role as spiritual leaders:

Curiosity is a particular form of passion, an instinct that says, “There is more out there, I know there is.  God is on the loose, and if I look with eyes of faith I will be able to see what He wants to do in the world.  Every person is interesting in some way.”

  

The reason this quote stuck out to me is because of what John Eldredge says in the book “Captivating.”  He says that women (just like God) want to be pursued like an expensive treasure.  I’ve seen that in Ashley, but I’ve also seen that elsewhere in life.  I’m now starting to wonder whether there is more to pursuit than just romance… 

When I think of being pursued, I'm reminded of the Hebrew word Hesed.  It’s the word that God used in the book of Hosea to describe the “loving-kindness” He had for His people.  Let me provide a quick summary in case you haven't read the book.

Hosea is a book in the Old Testament written by a prophet named Hosea.  Prophets had the unique responsibility of helping the people of God understand who God was and what He wanted.  They also provided a glimpse of what would happen in the future.  The book of Hosea was a sad, frustrating, but surprisingly hopeful story.  Here it is:

Hosea was instructed to marry a woman who cheated on him and even found herself indebted to another man.  Hosea had the right to divorce her, but instead, God told Hosea to buy her back. Hosea obeyed God, and in the process we see the stubbornness of his wife, and the pain and sadness it caused Hosea.  Although she was rebellious and adulterous, Hosea repeatedly showed her love.  But remember, Hosea's situation was meant to be an illustration of the way God felt when His people rebelled against Him.

Aren't we all like that at times?  Don't we all choose to rebel against God and put our trust and self-worth in things other than God: things like money, fame, power, jobs, clothing, college degrees, etc?  I know I do; and what does God say about that?

God's message is simple: It hurts, but He pursues people even when they hurt Him.  God’s “loving-kindness” came in the form of a passionate and persistent pursuit of showing love and mercy to rebellious children, which makes me think that proper "pursuit" is more than just romance.  I mean, don't we all want to be passionately and persistently pursued with love and mercy? 

As I said earlier, I’ve seen Ashley’s desire to be pursued, so I've started asking God to give me the curiosity required to pursue her properly.  Now, though, I'm starting to realize that I also need to ask God to give me the curiosity required to pursue other people with love and mercy.  But my need for that particular form of passion doesn't stop there.  In fact, my curiosity for others is just scratching the surface.

The most important thing I need to do, is recognize that God has been pursuing me with love and mercy throughout my whole life.  I need to stop running from Him, and accept His love instead.  I need to recognize that I've hurt Him and ask for forgiveness.  Finally, I need to ask Him for the desire and curiosity required to pursue Him the way He has pursued me, because there is nothing greater in life than growing closer to the creator of the universe.  Do you feel that way as well?  

I would love to read the story of how you realized that God was pursuing you.  Leave me a comment

Psalm 46:10

I had one of those weeks where I felt restless and bored, but couldn’t understand why.  And then finally, the solution just fell on my lap.  It happened while was taking a class for school.  My professor shared the difference between “long form reading” and “short form reading”, saying that many people today prefer short form reading.  He explained that “short form reading” is speed reading for information, while “long form reading” is searching for understanding.  My professor said that short form reading tends to create shallow thoughts and a lack of fulfillment. 

Even as my professor spoke, I was able to realize that I’m a "short form reader."  I am someone who loves to learn new things, but don’t want to go through the tedious work of trying to learn something new from an old concept.  But that shouldn’t be a surprise, don’t we all love new things? 

I think we all want that new car smell, but we don’t want the hard work of cleaning the old one.  We believe it’s easier to buy something new, but the problem is that it requires more hours of work to buy a new car than it does to maintain or even fix the current one.  It’s also less fulfilling to have someone else do the work for you, but I digress…

There are reasons why "short form reading" and consumerism doesn’t fulfill us, but that’s not something I want to write about.  Instead, I want to share what happened when I decided to quit skim-reading my bible, and start meditating on a verse.

I decided to meditate on the first part of Psalm 46:10 by emphasizing a different word each time I repeated the verse.  Here are some of the thoughts that I wrote in my journal as I meditated:

BE: a command to exist in a certain condition.  It’s more than doing, it should be my state of existence

STILL: Why is it important to be still?  What is preventing me from being still… is it boredom and wanting to find fulfillment?

AND: It seems like there is more to stillness than sitting around and being lazy.  I should be still AND do something; what is it that I’m supposed to do?

KNOW: Does this mean more than just an intellectual knowledge?  Is it an experiential knowledge?  What am I suppose to know?

THAT: …the next part of this verse is what I’m supposed to know…

I: This is God speaking.  It’s not a pastor saying, “This is what you should know.”  It’s something that the creator of earth is telling me to know and study.

AM: This is more than just what God does or feels.  It’s about who He is.  Who am I?  I define myself by my work, experiences, or my status, but when I am going to bed at night, who do I say that I am?  What is my true identity?  More importantly, what is God about to tell me regarding His identity?

GOD:  This is what He wants me to know about Himself.  It’s His identity, His nature: He is God.  What does it mean to be God?  I know that I try to be God, but what is it like to truly be God... 

What is it like to speak the universe into existence; to move mountains; to place or replace political leaders into a position?

What is it like to know everything; to always be right; to never force myself upon someone?  What is it like to create something that rejects you?  How is it possible for God to forgive instead of get even? 

If He is God and I am not, why don’t I praise Him more?  Why am I not asking Him questions all the time?  Why do I isolate myself from Him?  Why do I let the opinions of others control what I think about myself?  How can I KNOW Him better?

I realized that skim-reading the bible isn't fulfilling, but being led into reality is.  What’s reality?  Reality is the understanding that I’m not God, but that God wants to be with me.  It’s not because of something I've done, or am capable of doing.  He spoke the universe into creation.  He doesn't need me to help Him run it.  Instead, it’s because of who He is.  He is love, and He is a generous God that wants to share His love with His creation.  How do I know that?  He came to earth and died on a cross to prove it.

Transitioning Well

The following post is from a friend who has been forced to make a major life-decision.  She wanted to share her experience, in hopes that her struggles may provide some clarity for all of us dealing with life transitions.  Please let me know if you have a story to share...

The most recent “decision” that sticks out for me was the decision of where to attend school next year.  Throughout the application process, a university in Boston stuck out to me.  I loved Boston, the program sounded great, I have friends in the area – I knew I wanted to go there.  When I got in, it felt like a done deal.  Then, I was offered a seat at a program in Virginia - they gave me 10 days to decide.  About 4 days before I had to tell them yes or no (and mentally I had already said “no”) my dad recommended that I at least look into the school.  So I did. 

The more research I did, the more of a fit Virginia seemed.  But I really didn’t want to go.  It’s far away, I know nobody in the area, the program is small and, most importantly, it wasn’t Boston.  

Regardless of my desire to say no, something inside of me was urging me to say yes.  In prayer with God, I thought I felt Him pulling me there.  In a moment of prayer, I heard “Trust Me.”  So I did, and I said yes. 

It’s funny, because I’m still not sure I made the right decision.  I’m not 100% convinced that I’m headed where God wants me, but I had to select one or the other.

Fast-forward a couple weeks, and Josh hands me a book called Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View by Garry Friesen and J. Robin Maxson, which puts forth two views on decision making and God’s Will.  A brief summary of the book’s discussion of these two views follows:

Traditional View

God has three Wills:  Sovereign, Moral, and Individual.

1.  “Sovereign” – “God’s secret plan that determines everything that happens in the universe.” (Friesen and Maxson, 35)
2. “Moral” – Right vs Wrong:  Through His Word, the Bible, God gives humanity instructions as to how we should conduct ourselves, that is to say, He reveals what is considered good behavior and what is evil.  The Bible also instructs us as to what we should believe.  “God’s revealed commands in the Bible that teach how men ought to believe and live.”
3. “Individual” – Personalized specifics: God’s individual plan for my life. 

Frieson and Maxson list seven means by which we interpret God’s Wills.  They collectively name these seven “Road Signs.”

1. Bible
2. Circumstances – Often referred to as “Open Doors” or “Closed Doors.” 
3. Inner Witness – The work of the Holy Spirit within you.  You may feel pulled toward a certain decision.
4. Mature Counsel – Seeking advice from a more mature/experienced Christian.
5. Personal Desires
6. Common Sense
7. Special Guidance – Refers to divine intervention in your life such as the visit of an angel.  The traditional view notes that this is a rare occurrence and should not be expected. 

Wisdom View (according to Friesen and Maxson)

God has 2 Wills:

1.      “Sovereign” – same as Traditional

2.      “Moral” – same as Traditional

Frieson and Maxson contend that the “Individual Will” is not scripturally based.  This does not mean that God does not care about us, but rather He has granted us an “Area of Freedom” which lies within His “Moral” and “Sovereign” Wills.

The driving force behind the question of which view is accurate is “Am I being obedient to God?”

 So I ask myself – was I being obedient to God? Was choosing Virginia an act of obedience?  In a way, yes, but not necessarily in that I know choosing VA was what God wanted me to do.  I don’t know for sure that God wants me there – perhaps He really didn’t mind where I ended up.  I do believe, however, that trusting Him in the decision was an act of obedience.  I’m comforted because I know that during my time there, I will have the opportunity to live as an obedient daughter, living as a light for Him. 

This leads into what I think is a critical element in decision-making: The approach that I use when I have to make decisions should be Christ-centered.

All earthly things, relationships, positions are temporary.  When I cease to exist, so will they.  God’s Kingdom, however, will prevail into eternity, regardless of the decisions I make.  In the end, whether I go to VA or MA, God’s Will will prevail.  He, in His sovereignty, can use me for His Kingdom as He sees fit, in VA or MA.

Paul’s words: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” can help maintain that perspective.  If all that I am, all my accomplishments, are a loss in light of Christ, why worry so much about them?  We are assured that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28)  My confidence need not lie in what I do, but rather it rests in Him. 

Friesen, Gary, and J. Robin Maxson. Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View. Print.