The theme of the retreat I spoke at last weekend was "Relentless: Pursuing Christ at all costs". And when I think about my life, I think of a story where God has been constantly pursuing me, even when I'm not pursuing him.

And because I couldn't help myself, I decided to take a look and see if there were any other people God pursued.

God pursued Adam and Eve into the middle of a garden
God pursued Noah in the middle of a storm
He pursued Samuel in the middle of the night
and Silas in the middle of a prison

God pursued Jeremiah through beatings
and Jacob into a wrestling match

God pursued Abraham til he was old 
and Timothy even though he was young

He pursued the rich man in his wealth
and the widow in her poverty
He pursued Paul to blindness 
and the blind man to sight
He pursued Thomas in his doubts
and Nicodemus in the dark

God pursued David to Goliath
Matthew despite his God
and Lazarus to the grave (and back)

He pursued Mary in her brokeness
Martha in her homliness
Sarah in her barreness
and Leah in her lonliness

God pursued Samson in hig strength
Moses onto the mountain
Solomon into a song
and God pursued Job even without joy

He pursued the Samaritan woman at the well
the Israelites into the wilderness
Hagar to the water
John the Baptist even though he was weird
Joshua in a whisper
Elijah in a whisper
and Jonah in a whale

God pursued Joseph in a famine
Naomi without a family
Daniel in a fast
His friends into a fire
and me without a faith

I'm not trying to put myself in company with these people, but if you look at every single on of them, God pursued them because he wanted to use them and he did.

God is pursuing you, not only because he loves you, but because he wants to use you.