The Importance of Pursuit

Finding is necessary, but it’s not sufficient

Do you enjoy reminiscing? My husband and I recently shared a nice meal with another couple where the topics of conversation seemed to continuously spark treasured memories–stories that spoke of God’s amazing faithfulness. May I share a bit with you?

Memory lane

Just before classes began my junior year of college, I walked into a small office in the Hulen-Clement Residence Hall on the campus of Texas Tech University. I had recently been hired as a resident assistant, so I needed to sign some paperwork.

The secretary in the office, Else Munoz, was one of my favorite people. She was a devout Christian woman with a joy that overflowed in spite of dealing with a dormitory full of self-absorbed college students. Else knew almost every young person in that building. In my mind, I can still hear her calling people by name with her pronounced German accent. Else had married a young American soldier during World War II and returned with him to the United States afterward. Even after 40 years, Else’s eyes still sparkled when she spoke of her beloved Shano.

On the day I entered the office in the fall of 1986, Else greeted me with her infectious smile and introduced me to the new office assistant. The three of us visited for a few minutes before I signed the paperwork and left. A year later, that office assistant and I were engaged. A little less than a year after that (37 years ago today!), Else sat in a pew in my home church, watching as Johnny and I were married. She loved to tell me the story of how Johnny leaned over to her after I left that first meeting and said, “Else, that’s the girl I’m going to marry.”

Words and action

You know, Johnny and I would never have been a couple if he had not taken some action steps after our initial meeting. To find the “person he wanted to marry” without pursuing me would have been fruitless. The finding was necessary, but it was not sufficient.

So, Johnny asked for help with Spanish. He called to see if we could eat together in the cafeteria. He created opportunities for conversations–some that lasted until the wee hours of the morning in the newly-remodeled lobby of the residence hall. Everyone we worked with in the dorm could see the relationship developing. It may have been a few weeks after that initial meeting before we actually went on our first date, but the evidence of pursuit–his desire to know me, to discover my likes and dislikes, to spend time with me–was obvious to me and anyone else watching.

And the pursuit continues!

Johnny may not ask for help with Spanish anymore, but we do ask each other for help with other things that allow us to better understand each other. We still enjoy eating daily meals together, and sometimes we still stay up way too late talking. The “pursuit” was not limited to the two years of dating before we married; it became a process to help us examine and strengthen our relationship. There may be a little less giddiness now than then, but there is more security in and through the process. We know each other more deeply.

A greater pursuit

A.W. Tozer wrote in The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine,

“To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love” (p. 15).

What a beautiful reminder that “finding” God is not enough. It is necessary, but it is not sufficient.

So take a few moments to reminisce about God’s faithfulness. As you do, use it as an opportunity to examine your own actions (2 Cor. 13:5) in the relationship. Look for evidence of pursuit. Much like the psalmist, we should be able to say, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” (Ps. 42:1).

Your reminiscences and pursuits

Do you have a story of God’s faithfulness or your pursuit of Him? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.

Until next time, may you find joy in the pursuit of knowing Him ever more deeply!

P.S. If you know or are a part of a women’s Bible study group seeking a Bible study for this semester, please consider ​Well-Worn Paths: Treading Paths of Joy Through a Study of Philippians​. You can contact me here​ and ask for an information page with links to sample content.

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