#relationshipgoals

2,299,142. Refresh. 2,299,154. As of May 22, 2016 at 7:30 PM, that is the number of times the hashtag #relationshipgoals has been used on Instagram. If you have managed to escape the internet in the past year, let me fill you in: #relationshipgoals is the common hashtag used when cutesy couples doing cutesy stuff at some cutesy place post a picture. I even saw a blog being passed around on Facebook earlier this year about some famous couple who takes a lot of cutesy photos together, and it went viral, because it was “so #relationshipgoals people just couldn’t even”.

About two and a half years ago, I was living in #relationshipgoals land. Matching Halloween costumes. Check! Weekly workout sessions. Check! Countless inside jokes from countless adventures. Check! Intentional Bible study. Check! To be honest, much of the relationship felt pretty dang perfect.

Press the brakes. Our relationship ended just shy of the two-year mark. I’d like to say that immediately afterwards, I put on my big-girl pants and moved on like it was no big deal. However, that is far from the truth. I was so in love and it had so ended and I was so hurt. Remember y’all, I had achieved #relationshipgoals.

But wait. This is not a pity story, this is a story to celebrate!While I was still a puddle of tears on the ground, I fell in love again. You heard that right. I fell in love. AGAIN!

I clung back on to the one who I knew had loved me from the start — the one who had never left my side and had never stopped pursuing me. His name is Jesus.

One day in particular, I remember reading about the Samaritan woman at the well. She needed more than your typical H2O from the well that day; she needed water that would never leave her thirsty — she needed the living water that only Jesus could provide.

In John 4:13 we see this truth unfold as Jesus says,

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Moment by moment, I filled my heart back up with His eternal refreshment. The pieces were not mended in an instant, but the better beauty was that it was this very brokenness that kept me coming back to Jesus for more of His Word, for more of His presence, for more of His living water.

Speed up to my second year after said breakup. This year was marked by my transition into living by myself for the first time. If you look back into the depths of my Instagram feed, you’ll see that I didn’t miss the opportunity to brag about this “great feat”, but the other truth (not pictured on social media) was that I felt pretty stinkin’ “alone”.

Soon though, I began to see this season of being “alone” for the blessing that it was. I remember sitting on my couch late one night, praying to God, when I felt Him question,“I know you love me, but are you in love with me?”As I reflected on this question, I thought about the two times when I had been in love. I reflected on how much time I invested in getting to know who these people were. Did I invest this same amount of time into getting to know my Heavenly Father? I thought about the fact that when I was in love, I was so excited to be in that person’s presence. Had I ever experienced that level of excitement to be in the presence of the Lord?

As I began to draw closer and closer in relationship with Jesus, through prayer and the reading of His Word, I began to know Him more. The more I began to know Him, one truth stood out –He has and will continue to pursue me all the days of my life because he has and will love me all the days of my life.

As Psalm 23:6 pronounces,“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.”

Let that soak in. His love is chasing you down. Every day. Even when you run the other way, the good Shepherd is seeking YOU, calling out your name.

Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church writes in his book, “If”,“First of all, His love is unconditional. There is nothing you do to make God love you more or less because He already loves you perfectly, eternally. Even when we don’t reciprocate His love, it doesn’t deter, deflect, or diminish His love. It accentuates it.“

A love that is consistent regardless of our efforts… that is a love that I want more of! The more I began to fully understand His faithful love for me, the more I began to not just love the idea of Jesus, but I began to fall back in love with Jesus.

If you questioned me today,“Hey Lisa, are you in love with Jesus?”I’d tell you how thankful I am for that season of needing more than some typical H2O, so that I would desire to draw closer to Jesus, moment by moment. I’d tell you what a blessing my time of being “alone” was, so that I could be alone with Him. I’d tell you that He is the best relationship I’ve ever known. I’d tell you in a thousand different ways why He is the goal. I’d tell you that if you are only looking for an earthly #relationshipgoal, you are selling yourself short.There is a relationship much greater than we can fathom, and it is found in a relationship with Jesus.

The beauty is that this eternal relationship with Christ is not only reserved for me. I believe there is someone reading this right now who needs to know that your Heavenly Father is pursuing you, too. Whether you are single, dating, married, widowed, or divorced, Jesus wants to be your greatest love. Let the lines of this song from Bethel, “You Are My One Thing” linger in your heart as you reflect on this truth,

“Your voice ever close you called me

You never gave up pursuing

I fell in love you stole my heart.”

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