The Persistent Pursuit

The days are getting shorter, I’m finally putting my kids to bed on time, and we are all cramming in the last summer activities before a new school year begins. I’ve talked to several mothers feeling anxious about another year. Although I homeschool, I too feel the disquiet of teaching my boys again. I’m contemplating ideas of how to help them better, and feeling the pressure of being teacher and mom while questioning, am I enough? The moms who send the kids on a new adventure to school also feel the pressure to make sure their kids are safe, happy, making friends, and having good teachers, while asking, will they be okay? Whatever thoughts the new season brings, I have found comfort in the scriptures as we not only trust God with our kids, but persistently pursue Him in the raising.

 I recently read the story of Bartimaeus in the book of Mark (Mark 10:46-52).  I love the stories of persistence and pursuit in the Bible, but the story of Bartimaeus is one of my favorites. He was a blind man sitting on the roadside and heard that Jesus was in town. He started to shout out to Him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47). People started to rebuke him and tell him to be quiet, but he just kept pursuing Jesus and crying out for Him. Jesus asked Him to come, and the persistent Bartimaeus was healed. 

This is a simple story, with a big message of faith and trust. While we walk blindly into the worries of a new season, where do we put our trust?  Bartimaeus had blind faith that God would be there for him and help him in His time of need. He trusted that as He persistently pursued Jesus, Jesus would answer.  In this season of unknowns, we too must trust that God will lead us, give us wisdom for our children, and strengthen us to be the parents He called us to be. 

We see people of persistent faith several times in the bible. The paralyzed man whose friends had such great faith that they lowered their him from the roof top to get him to Jesus and he was healed. (Luke 5:17-20). The woman with the issue of blood was so persistent in her faith that when she heard Jesus was near, she pursued Him until she could reach out and touched the hem of His garment, knowing that is all it would take. She was healed and her faith had made her well. (Mark 5:25-34). Jesus answered many healings with the phrase, “your faith has made you well.” God reveals to us that pursuit and perseverance reflects great faith. These people did whatever it took to get to Jesus because they trusted Him for the greater things and did not give up in their pursuit of Him.

What a gift we have now, the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We do not have to wait until Jesus comes to town to pursue Him, but every day and every hour, we can boldly come to Him on behalf of our children and families. We can believe Him for the greater things. We can surrender and trust Him to do, “far more than we could ever ask for or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). When something goes wrong, we can choose to pursue Him above a google search or phone call to a friend, although they can be great resources, I feel God encouraging us to go to the best resource of all. Go to Him first, above everything else, and He will guide the next steps. Trust Him with your children, as we “walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) For our persistence is faith and our pursuit it trust.