Relentless Pursuit

There is nothing I respect more than someone who relentlessly pursues something. As a football coach (and a defensive one at that) all the schemes and situations really matter a whole lot less than 11 guys relentlessly pursuing the guy with the football. We demand it in practice, it helps us win games (and lose them if we don't pursue relentlessly), and the people watching from the bleachers can tell if a team is relentlessly pursuing their goal of tackling the guy with the football. The guys that run the hardest to the football are usually the guys that try the hardest in the classroom and work the hardest at relationships. There is something undeniably admiring to any sports fan about an athlete who relentlessly and passionately pursues their goal.

The first King of Israel, Saul, gets a bad rap because of some of the selfish things he did as his reign as king began to end, and rightfully so. He became arrogant and selfish, and neither of those things are very admirable traits. But that guy knew how to relentlessly pursue someone.

From 1 Samuel 18 until his death 1 Samuel  31, Saul is relentlessly pursuing David and trying to kill him. While his desired result (killing the man after God's own heart) may not be the purest of motives, there is no denying the passionate pursuit of a man who knew exactly what he wanted.

There aren't many more examples of that kind of relentless pursuit in the Bible or elsewhere. But I dug around my sword and found a few:

Abraham pursuing God's righteousness, at the cost of his son's life: Genesis 22
Jacob pursuing his wife Rachel: Genesis 29
Solomon's pursuit of the meaning of life: Ecclesiastes and his story in Kings
Paul's pursuit of righteousness: The whole book of Acts

I am a passionate person. My goal in sports was always to play harder than anyone else on the field or court. But my pursuit of Christ and righteousness is not always like that. The separation of relentless pursuit and pursuit is consistency. Nobody wants a guy that'll go hard for 2 plays and take 1 play off. The consistency of the pursuit is the whole key to the relentless. Sometimes it doesn't happen on the first try. Or the first 100. It takes relentless consistent pursuit to get what you want.

There is, however, more than one side to the coin. Saul's pursuit was definitely relentless, but his desired goal was totally wrong. And look what happened (spoiler alert) he ended up killing himself instead of David. You have got to pursue the right things in order to achieve what you desire. I have pursued a lot of things that aren't really what its all about. We all do. Money, success, recognition, relationships, sex, drugs, alcohol, winning games, beating someone else at something, etc.

I am a brick wall sprinter type personality. I go as hard as I can after something until God puts a brick wall up in front of me, I slam into it, bounce off, and run the other direction. And the more walls I slam into, the more my path of relentless pursuit changes from the aforementioned things and is guided towards Jesus. It's helped narrow my path from having a building named after me, winning a ton of games, making lots of money, and being the coach of a major program to wanting to be a great husband and father, loving on all my athletes and fellow coaches, and serving my church and my community.

I haven't figured this out by any stretch, and I just really needed to hear this myself. I guess what I am trying to say are these two things:

1. Relentlessly pursue your goals and dreams in your life.
2. Make sure your relentless pursuit is towards getting to know Jesus, and #1 will take care of itself.

Are you relentlessly pursuing anything right now? Why or Why not?
Is what you're pursuing something selfish or is it for others?
What can you do to better relentlessly pursue your relationship with your Father? (like write in your blog more often than once every 5 months)

Dig around on it a while. Struggle with it.

No matter what the case may be...

I like to think of my self as a man who lives without worry. That is true about 99% of the time. Today was one of my 1%ers.

2012 is off to an interesting start. It has already been filled to the brim with change, lightly squeezed with a sour taste of consequences, served with a delicious looking plate of opportunity. In this whirlwind of an appetizer course to the year I found myself deep in worry from about 1:30 yesterday til 9:00 tonight.

I was worried about paying for my truck repairs, $3500 expected to be paid by today for exact, on top of rent and the complications with my loan and payroll over Christmas break. Love that money! Woooooo!

I was worried about my career, how well I fit in with a new staff, whether my second degree was worth the trouble, and if college coaching was my right fit right now.

I was worried about my new job, learning how things operated and doing it efficiently and how it'd effect my performance in the job I already held.

I was worried about my relationships, whether or not I should be looking for a girlfriend, missing friends that moved away, and wondering what'll happen in 5 months when more move.

UNTIL...

On my way home after some nice family time and a home cooked meal, The Spirit reminded me of a song my uncle Steve sang in VBS way back when he had a gross mustache and I had no facial hair (or very little). The song goes like this:

I've got confidence.
My LORD is gonna see me through.
No matter what the case may be
My LORD is gonna fix it for me.

And I sang it all the way home from Tuscola and until it morphed from a hopeful prayer to a refurbished foundation of my faith. Matthew 5:48 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it reminds me of my ultimate goal in this life. To be perfect as my Father in Heaven is perfect.

Satan and Selfishness like to tag-team combat my heart into thinking I am the one responsible for the perfection, the completeness in my life. And they when every time I lay down my spiritual armor and show up naked to a nasty, ruthless war on Evil. That and my work ethic make me think I can accomplish things if I know all the answers and work my ass off to get it done. But I can't. And that is perfectly alright because I've got confidence. My LORD is gonna see me through. No matter what the case may be, my LORD is gonna fix it for me.

Thank you to everyone who has ever helped with a Vacation Bible School. You never know what God is doing in the spirit of a 6 year old that he will really need at 1:00 am a little over a week before he turns 23. Truth roots itself deep in our souls. Hold fast to truth.