Chase Day 13 Great Lengths

Genesis 3
Jonah 4:10-11
Revelation 1:5-9
Isaiah 43:1-4
Psalm 113

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Most of you are probably already humming along to this simple children’s song declaring the love of Jesus.

I sing this melody to my littlest boys every night before they climb into bed and I have a few memories of my mom singing the same to my brother as she rocked him to sleep.
But for years of my growing up time, I struggled hard with these lyrics.

Where?!
Where does the Bible say that Jesus loves ME?

I am guilty as charged (and my husband often charges me of this!) of being a black and white thinker. If you don’t say it exactly, if all the edges don’t line up, it’s not okay. For me, my tendency is either A or B. Black or White. No in between.
Praise Jesus, I have learned, by His grace, to actually live in that grace, to color in-between the lines and allow all the colors to exist as a rainbow between black and white.
But it’s been a struggle.

I had a pretty harsh, distant view of God as a teenager and young adult. It was a perspective I carried long into my marriage.
Of course God loves me, He has to. He’s God.

The idea that He could delight over me.
That He longed for an intimate relationship with me.
That friendship with ME was on His heart….outlandish. Impossible.
I just didn’t see it.
I could neither find the words “Jesus Loves Me” in the Bible, nor see that kind of love modeled for me in my earthly father.

Then, gloriously, one sweet day, I read this in Isaiah:
…you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you…

Black and white, it was right in front of me.
Jesus Loves Me.

It was the beginning of a journey for me. A journey to understand just what great lengths the Lord would go to chase after my heart in order to have a relationship.
As I studied this verse, I learned about the roots of faith.
This verse wasn’t originally intended to speak to Rebecca Adams in the 21^st century, it had an original audience and original intent, but the wide-sweeping ramifications of those words echoed into my everyday. And Yours.
That’s the beauty of God’s precious, living, active Word!

This phrasing in Isaiah filled in all the spots of my hungry-for-love heart that were left aching from a childhood of performance driven, angry love.
But it wasn’t an end.
It was a beginning.
And with that verse, the curtain was flung wide for me to come back stage, to see the incredibly great lengths a pursuant God would go in order to love His people, His sons, His daughters.
Me. You.

How far would His love go to reach us?
What would He use to bring hopelessly lost souls to Him?

…you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you…
Words steeped in rich history.
The history of a people, the Jewish nation, being pulled ever deeper into redemption.
But before they were known as Jews, they were called the Hebrews,
a people group stemming from one family:
Jacob, whose dad was Isaac,
whose dad was Abraham,
who was known as the Father of Many Nations.

Not because he eventually became known to hold that title, but because when he was 100 years old with zero offspring, the Lord fulfilled a promise to him by giving him Isaac, telling Abraham that he would indeed become the father of many nations.
One heir.
One wildly un-fathomable promise.

A promise whose roots stretched back even farther to a glorious garden, a tree, and a choice. Love the Lord or love self?
And when they chose self, Yahweh set in motion His vast plan of redemption to win His people back.

A plan of redemption that included
an ark in the middle of the desert,
a baby boy born to a barren mama,
a bowl of stew,
sheep breeding,
a burning bush,
a prostitute’s cunning,
clay jars and torches,
threshing festivals and cultural traditions,
a harp,
a sling and a stone,
flour and oil,
a forgotten book,
a fiery furnace,
a beauty contest,
a virgin girl and her betrothed,
a fishing boat,
a little boy’s lunch,
a wooden cross,
and another promise.

A promise to return.
A promise to bring in fullness the promise made from long ago in that garden.
A promise to bring His people home!

Just inside of Jonah’s story alone, see how many times we read that God “appointed” something or that He did a specific action just to get Jonah’s attention.
He used
wind,
fear,
a wild storm,
a great fish,
the fish’s churning stomach,
a plant,
a worm,
the weather,
and the sun.

These were the characters of Jonah’s story, what about yours?
In mine, God has used a friend, a pastor, a ring, a gift, an opportunity, a computer, a hug, a letter, a hundred second chances, a song, a Bible verse, a baby, and so much more.
Nothing is beyond God’s reach as He chases after us to bring us home.

He uses people.
He uses the ordinary.
He uses all of creation to declare His Gospel.
Listen to Him call; be caught by His chase!

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
Sign up to receive every Journey Study!
Join our Facebook Community!