Relentless: A Workcamp reflection.
The theme of this year’s workcamp/mission’s trip was “Relentless.” All throughout our activities we were constantly examining and pointed towards how God is relentless in God’s pursuit of not just repairing God’s relationship with us, but in being part of who we are and having a guiding hand in our development as people. Time after time we saw how nothing can dissuade or put off God’s relentless pursuit of us.
By the end of our week we were challenged with the truth; “If God is so relentless in pursuing a relationship with us, then shouldn’t we be as devoted to pursuing a relationship with God?” This might seem very daunting. Our lives can feel like they are way too busy, distracted, and broken for us to be really devoted to God in the same way God is relentless in God’s pursuit of us. Fortunately, we are not left on our own. God knew that life would be difficult and filled with distractions and obstacles. So, God provided an advocate, The Holy Spirit, to walk alongside of us and provided whatever assistance we might need. In our post camp/trip devotion we were reminded that;
“Jesus knew that life would be difficult. He knew the things we deal with and the decisions we have to make are challenging. But God never intended for us to face life alone. That’s why Jesus came to this earth: to be Emmanuel, God with us. And when Jesus went back to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit, God continuing to be with us. The Holy Spirit is God coming alongside us, or actually, as Jesus put it, living inside of us, to help us live for him.
You don’t have to figure life out on our own. The Holy Spirit is God guiding us. According to Jesus and the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is how God helps us. The Holy Spirit is given to give us God’s counsel on how to handle life’s situations. The Holy Spirit comforts us when we are hurting. The Holy Spirit helps us understand God’s heart as we read the Bible. And the Holy Spirit is the One who gives us the ability to obey God and live rightly. As you relentlessly pursue God, remember that it is only when you allow God to guide you by His Holy Spirit that you will enter into all that God has for you.”
For me this is an incredibly helpful reminder. God is so relentless in God’s devotion to us, that God will not leave us alone, but instead walk alongside us and guide us (not taking over, still allowing us to be who we are) so that we can become the people God created us to be and experience the relationships that God desires for us to have.