At the beginning of the month the Lord put the word Relentless on my heart. As we are coming near the end of our time, here in Thailand, I believe that it is starting to make sense. Here are some truths that I know about my God.
He is a jealous God.
There is nothing that I can do to be separated from His love.
His kindness leads me to repentance.
He is faithful.
He is Love.
He takes my burdens and my worries upon himself.
He never changes.
Having been into the bars and seen the faces of the women who believe that they have to sell their bodies to receive some type of satisfaction or worth, and having seen the men who are also broken and looking to fill a void, looking to buy love even if it is temporary. I am beginning to understand how relentless our God is when He pursues us. Someone once told me that the feeling of “emptiness” I feel when I stray away from the Lord, is one way that He pursues me. He allows me to feel the absence of Himself in my life, as a way to draw me back into His big strong arms! Someone also once told me that the reason God is a jealous God is because He doesn’t like it when we believe lies. This has never made more since as it has to me this month, on Bangla Road. Sitting across from a beautiful women who has been told that this is the only way that she will ever be successful, that she is only as beautiful as she is skinny, that her body (and what she can do with it) is the epitome of her worth. Likewise, seeing men who believe lies, such as, it is perfectly ok to buy a woman for one night, that they could never provide for a family so they should just have one night stands instead, that they aren’t “good” enough to be a family man, a father, or a husband, or that sex is only “physical”. It breaks my heart to see children of God believe these lies and walk in them as if everything is perfectly ok. It breaks my heart that they are living this life when they were made to life a life full of love, truth, wisdom, hope, peace, worth, and community. But then I remember that I have a faithful Father, who loves, who pursues, and who is relentless in the way that He seeks out His children. I am comforted by the fact that God is jealous for the men and women on Bangla road every night. I believe that He is not done pursuing the people here and that He still has big plans for Phuket, Thailand. I believe that I am here as a part of His pursuit of the people on Bangla and that makes me excited!! Praise God for His love and His relentless pursuit of His beloved children!! He is GOOD and His love endures FoReVeR!!
