Matthew 9:36

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without
a shepherd.”

Matthew 18:12
"What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone
astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?”

My vision for this blog page came from something that hit me
a month or so ago.

If you do not know me, my wife and I have a three year old
son from India.
He has been with us for just over a year. He has truly blessed our home with much joy and laughter.

It has not been all fun and games however. Recently, I was challenged with some behaviors I did not appreciate. In fact, they hurt me as a Father. My son Anant would often refuse me holding him when he was upset or
wanted his mother. And at other times he would refuse a hug and kiss when I would go off to work. Yes, there are several reasons for the behavior and they were normal reactions. I just did not like it and it felt like my son was rejecting me in some way.

So I mentioned this to a small group I attend and I was
encouraged to pray about it. Yes, I know that was what they were going to tell me. I still needed the reminder. They encouraged me to throw out a bottom line prayer to my heavenly Father about what was going on and how I felt.

I received two answers to the prayer. The first was a simple quiet instruction of how to react. I heard, "pursue him." Do not let him push you away. So that is what I did, gently as I could I would hold my son in the moments he wanted to push me away or do something else. After some resistance over several days, he fussed a little less. Then he started to come to me on occasion because some of the times I would hold him became routine, like when Mom is cooking and he wants to watch. And recently, I have seen a deeper bond with my son. He is stating often he loves his Dad and enjoys doing things with him. And it all started with a simple word from my heavenly Father. My own emotional strength would have said to reject my son as he was rejecting me or let him depend on Mom entirely. But, God had those simple words, pursue him.

Where does the second answer of prayer come from? God had something else in mind. He wanted to demonstrate to me a deeper understanding of my relationship with God. Can I say that I am any different towards God than my son was towards me? Yes, I often reject God thinking something else is better.
I cry and whine for something else, rejecting God. And is God any different? He must hurt deeply when rejected by His children. He loves us deeply and cares more than I can imagine. And yet, God reacts the same way He instructed me to do with Anant- He pursues us. He pursues His sheep wandering without a shepherd.

There was nothing God would spare to pursue a relationship with His children. All throughout the bible, we see men and women, who fall, reject and turn away from God, and He pursues them and restores them.

The idea of God being in relentless pursuit of His children is not a new concept. God just used the relationship between Anant and I to make it all the more clear to me. Hopefully, in writing this it is more clear to
you.