During my summers home from college, my sister and I led a gathering at our house every couple of weeks called Basement Worship. Inspired by Live at the Banks’ House by Will Reagan and the United Pursuit, a worship album recorded entirely from a family living room, Kayla and I prayed that God would pack out our basement with friends who were ready to worship together.
One of the most common selections during our gatherings was a song called “You Won’t Relent” by Jesus Culture. The song speaks to the, you guessed it, unrelenting nature of God in His pursuit of a relationship with us. This truth, I have found, is made manifest all throughout scripture.
From the beginning fall in Genesis when Adam and Eve hide in the Garden, God pursues them (Genesis 1:9). God pursues the Israelites through the desert (Numbers 11-20). He pursues Judah and Jerusalem in the midst of their unfaithfulness (Jeremiah). God has been pursuing humanity since the beginning of time. He still pursues us today, all the way to a cross, and an empty tomb that sets us free from the bonds of sin, all so we can have relational intimacy with Him. There is something about the heart of God that simply refuses to relent until He has accomplished what He originally envisioned.
How then, being made in His image, do we find it so easy to give up on a project, business, relationship, dream, or calling? The very essence of God is to refuse to give in until the promise has been delivered, until the solution has been created, until the battle has been won.
It would have been very easy for Kayla and I to become defeated when only seven people showed up for the first Basement Worship. It would have been very easy to give up as the months passed and the numbers stayed stagnant. At times, the idea of throwing in the towel was very tempting. It took three whole summers, and probably over twenty gatherings until the basement was finally full to capacity like we had originally envisioned. It was a glorious night, to finally see what God originally intended Basement Worship to be, but we never would have gotten their without a committed pursuit that refused to quit.
This is what it means to be an artist. It does not mean sitting around chewing on pita chips until inspiration strikes, or until we feel like working, or until we are “in the flow”. Being an artist means committing to an unrelenting pursuit of the vision God has placed in your heart. Vital creativity does not give up until the world we dream becomes the world we know.
One of the most common selections during our gatherings was a song called “You Won’t Relent” by Jesus Culture. The song speaks to the, you guessed it, unrelenting nature of God in His pursuit of a relationship with us. This truth, I have found, is made manifest all throughout scripture.
From the beginning fall in Genesis when Adam and Eve hide in the Garden, God pursues them (Genesis 1:9). God pursues the Israelites through the desert (Numbers 11-20). He pursues Judah and Jerusalem in the midst of their unfaithfulness (Jeremiah). God has been pursuing humanity since the beginning of time. He still pursues us today, all the way to a cross, and an empty tomb that sets us free from the bonds of sin, all so we can have relational intimacy with Him. There is something about the heart of God that simply refuses to relent until He has accomplished what He originally envisioned.
How then, being made in His image, do we find it so easy to give up on a project, business, relationship, dream, or calling? The very essence of God is to refuse to give in until the promise has been delivered, until the solution has been created, until the battle has been won.
It would have been very easy for Kayla and I to become defeated when only seven people showed up for the first Basement Worship. It would have been very easy to give up as the months passed and the numbers stayed stagnant. At times, the idea of throwing in the towel was very tempting. It took three whole summers, and probably over twenty gatherings until the basement was finally full to capacity like we had originally envisioned. It was a glorious night, to finally see what God originally intended Basement Worship to be, but we never would have gotten their without a committed pursuit that refused to quit.
This is what it means to be an artist. It does not mean sitting around chewing on pita chips until inspiration strikes, or until we feel like working, or until we are “in the flow”. Being an artist means committing to an unrelenting pursuit of the vision God has placed in your heart. Vital creativity does not give up until the world we dream becomes the world we know.
