The Chase

I remember when I was kid I always chased the breezes in the big middle yard (field) we had on the side of our house. As a child you chase those winds and it feels freeing. I know so many of us that still chase those winds....still chase the pleasure, still chase riches, still chase the meaning of life....still running it down even though that wind has breezed over us years ago and has long since dissipated. I've had so many dreams and hopes and desires over my lifetime that I can't count them. They are essentially as countless as the stars. I know the ones I had as a teenager chased a purpose that was Godless...and was unfruitful...it was filled with whimsy, romance, or some fairytale that I (with my active imagination) dreamed up.

The winds I chased as an adult seemed wrapped in defining the meaning of this life and finding my purpose. As much as we all want to do great things and be different, we all get wrapped up in this world and we fall in our own ways. We begin to view ourselves through the eyes of this world...we begin to define the world that exist under the sun. Do you know what that means? You identify and define yourself from a "you" perspective...and isn't that such a limited view point? Everything in history repeats itself right? And there is nothing special or original living under the sun? It's all for nothing? One thing that we as humans in modern day have managed to do is enhance sin. We've made everything ok. EVERYTHING! We have rationalized our evil thoughts, evil behaviors, selfishness, and lack of Christlikeness. We're great at self love, but horrible at loving our neighbors. We are ready to stand for a societies view of what is right ,but when God wants us to to tell the world what the Bible says righteousness looks like, we dodge it. We're great at caring about us and living comfortably in sin. Comfort. It is Satan's trap. If you're comfortable just know Satan ain't worried about you...he already has you. The world we live in today is riddled with sin against and hatred of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Daniel, Joshua, Ezekiel, Jacob, Job, Naomi, Ruth and Boaz...the Heavenly Father of Jesus. (I just want to be clear of which God I'm speaking about; no miscommunication:) In adult life it is so easy to only concern yourself with the things under this sun and chase winds and breezes and vapors and smoke or whatever...but those things are fleeting. Those winds are constantly changing. It becomes a frivolous/pointless thing to do after so long. It has no meaning. We do it...just to have something to do. And then we die. With no meaning behind our lives...we become insignificant over the whole history of the earth...because it will keep moving and we will not right?

Wrong! Position your eyes beyond the sun. If you don't know God, he dwells in heaven, and he has a purpose for each and every one of our lives and after we die when we believe in him we get to be in His presence.

Question: What is so special about being in the presence of God?

Answer: I don't have a full explanation for why being in the presence of God is the most beautiful thought I can have, but I know I'm currently chasing the desire to allow God to use me and to minister to my children. To be a loving wife to my husband, to be the woman God wants me to be. So that when I die I'll be in the presence of the only God that can make all of my life make sense to me. To be in the presence of the God who intricately designed it all...from the dew drop that lives for but a few moments in the brink of day, to the twinkling stars at the furthest depths of the universe. I get to be amongst those that I loved and lost and those that I never met while on earth but who I prayed for just the same. I believe I'll be allowed to see how my prayers for people led them to Christ. I'll be able to see Christ at the right hand of God, I'll be in a constant state of JOY , not pleasure, but pure joy. The happiness and satisfaction of the spirit. I will no longer know pain. I will know longer know suffering, I will be made beautiful. So, while I'm living and looking beyond what's under the sun I set my eyes on the maker of that sun. I ask him to order my steps. I ask him to use me. And my fleeting and meaningless life now has meaning. So after chasing disappointment in a dissipated wind, and seeking pleasure that would lead to fleeting satisfaction, or chasing money to the grave, or chasing status in a world that can cancel you in one foul swoop, or chasing answers from the universe when you have the privilege to speak to the maker of said universe through prayer...if I could tell my younger self one thing I'd say stop chasing the stuff of the world. Jesus is standing right there...and he ain't running. In fact he's been relentlessly chasing down your heart. In moments where none of the good that happened made sense, moments where you stepped out the way just in time to not be hurt, or in moments where hurt and pain led to an awakening that could only be revealed just beyond your suffering. He was there. You can see his hand all over it. Pay a little more attention. Lean in a little closer to the rhythm of your heartbeat. Slow the pace of your walking. Stop and look around. You'll find Him everywhere. If you're gonna chase, chase God's own heart, it is a firm foundation that is unwavering and nothing like those days of chasing the scattering breeze.

A Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

I just want to thank you for instilling me with the understanding that you give my life meaning. We are lost until we find you. We run for so long trying to make the world make sense through our experiences, and we oppose surrendering to your big beautiful plan. We could never fathom the awesomeness of your design. I am forever grateful that you made a way by way of Jesus that I could be included in your plans. Thank you for saving me. You're a good good Father.

In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.