The Chase We Misunderstood
When Goodness Is The One In Pursuit
“Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.” — Psalm 23:6
Most of us know the feeling of a good chase scene.
The good guys are outnumbered. The bad guys are closing in. The road is dark, the music builds, and everything in you knows they are expecting the worst.
That is what fear does.
Fear is the anticipation of evil.
It tells you something painful is coming, something you cannot outrun, something waiting just around the corner. And before anything has even happened, your heart can begin living as though the danger has already arrived.
But David gives us a very different picture in Psalm 23.
He says goodness and unfailing love are pursuing us.
Not casually following at a distance. Not wandering somewhere behind us.
Pursuing!
Coming after us with purpose.
The Story Fear Tells
How often do we live as though fear is the thing gaining ground behind us?
We brace for disappointment. We prepare for loss. We rehearse what could go wrong until fear starts sounding like wisdom.
But fear is not prophecy.
It is often imagination shaped by pain.
And while fear keeps warning us that harm is coming, the Shepherd is telling us something truer.
Goodness is coming too.
Mercy is coming too.
Love has been on the road behind us longer than fear ever has.
The Love That Finds Us
Imagine the scene turned around.
You are not being hunted by destruction. You are being pursued by Love.
Every hard road, every valley, every place where you were sure you were alone — goodness and mercy were not absent. They were still coming after you, not to accuse, not to shame, but to bring you home again and again to the Shepherd whose love has never lost sight of you.
Hope is the anticipation of good.
Not because every circumstance is easy or every outcome looks the way we wanted, but because Abba is good, and His love does not quit pursuing His children.
In the Kingdom, hope is not wishful thinking.
It is learning to recognize Who has been coming for you all along.
Reflection
Where have I been expecting harm more than goodness?
What fear has been shaping how I see my future?
What would change if I believed His love is pursuing me today?
Prayer