Chapter 17 ~ God's Loving Pursuit

Now, this chapter is one of my all time favorites. Eric's story still brought tears to my eyes, even after my umpteenth time reading it. What an impactful story.

I relate to the story, it reminds me of my uncle, who died alone in his house in Kentucky after my grandmother and grandfather moved away due to health issues. His esophagus was nearly gone when one of the blood vessels ruptured, he was dead in a matter of minutes, despite the machines that pumped fluid and medicine through his left behind body. He never responded and never regained any sense of being alive. My mother and aunt went to the hospital. My mother couldn't stay in the room, My aunt was left with the burden of make THE DECISION. She did. His body followed the trek his soul had taken a few days before.

I am sure that to some degree you have known the presence of, as the old preacher called it, "the hound of heaven." (a poem published in 1917, after the author, Francis Thompson's death.) Many a young "preacher boys" have read the words and been moved by the description of God's love for us, his pursuit of us. Maybe your story is one of a young faith that became stale or stunted, years of the "other life" and a return to the arms of the Father. Or you may say the tale of your years have been one of rebellion that was clearly seen by many, only to find your knees bending under the weight of consequences of those choices and trials. What ever the case, each of us understand that we, at one point or another, came to find a faith in Christ through the acts of love, acts like Debbie's.

Max refers to many from the scripture that knew the faithful knocking of God on their hearts door...

• David
• Adam and Eve
• Moses
• Jonah
• The Disciples
• John the Apostle
• Paul the Apostle
• Peter
• Samaritan woman

I want to repeat Max's ideas of how to best trust God and fight doubt, but with one exception, I want you to fill in the blanks (answers are on page 147, this is an open book assignment) and let the words of this language craftsman, speak to your heart.

1. Trust your _______________, not your ________________. What a slippery exercise and a fleeting struggle this little gem is.
2. Measure your _______________ through God's eyes, not your _______________. The old saying is, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I know what the beholder/savior says, you are "fearfully and wonderfully made." God " knitted me together in my mother's womb." And "your works are wonderful." (Psalm 139)
3. See the _______________ picture, not the _______________. The older I grow the better my sight is. You see, hindsight really is 20/20. As I look back on things, I realize how often I have doubted and yet God has met me in my doubt. When struggle comes and doubt beckons to my heart and mind, I now confess regularly, "I can believe, help my unbelief."

How about you?

"...God gave us himself. Even when we choose our hovel over this house and our trash over his grace, still he follows. Never forcing us. Never leaving us. Patiently persistent. Faithfully present. Using all of his power to convince us that he is who he is and that he can be trusted to lead us home."

What did you take away from the pen of Max in this chapter?

How about sharing....