I hate the way Hollywood so often portrays God and Christ. God is usually depicted as a harsh, unreasonable taskmaster pointing His bony finger at you with one hand and ready with a club in the other if you make even the smallest mistake.
They convey Christ as a fragile, doe eyed, “Can’t we all just get a long” wanna be leader. (The Passion Of The Christ was the only movie to even get it close, in my opinion).
This is not the God of the Bible at all. Yes, God is righteous and just, but He does not stand over us waiting for us to sin. He pursues us with His love. God’s love has grit! God’s love is tenacious! In His great love, He gave Christ to die for our sins so He could have fellowship with us.
I believe Jesus was physically strong along with the spiritual power and authority He displayed. He was, after all, a carpenter with no power tools! Jesus withstood tremendous betrayal, torture, persecution, and carried the weight of the sins of the world because of His great love.
He is committed to us. He will not give up on us.
“For great is His love towards us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD.” Psalm 117:2
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5b
God’s love is tenacious! He will not let you go. He will not let go of those you care about. There is no darkness or depth that He will not be there for us (Ps. 139). As they say, “You can run, but you cannot hide.” Just ask Jonah.
If you are running from God, stop. He loves you more than you can ever imagine and He will wait you out. You can’t out run Him or out wait Him.
If you have pulled away because of shame and guilt, turn back to Him. There is NOTHING that can separate you from God…except you.
If you are contending for loved ones, be encouraged. God’s love will pursue them. His love is perfect and unending. He will reach them with His love.
Tenacious is a perfect word for describing God’s love for us — strong and unyielding. He comforts us with his strength as Psalms 23:4 states:
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
God loves us enough to actually try and stop us from self-destruction by nudging us with his rod and staff into the right direction with firm unwavering love, not through guilt or shame, but through benevolent love and tenacity.
We just need to accept his guidance and surrender to his will. This is simple to say but difficult to practice for some of us. Believe me, God has had to nudge me many times and I’m grateful for every nudge!