“Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.” Psalm 23:6 (MSG)

It seems that every trip which involves flying to and from home that I have had recently ends up with a life-lesson to be learned in the process. This month’s trip to Fort Myers, FL wasn’t the exception. Ending up with a four hour delayed layover in Cleveland, didn’t help much, but the terminal we were in for the gate change left me with a less than desirable interaction with the bathrooms available. Now, I’m not hating on Hopkins International, but some of the first bathrooms you come to after debarking the plane are the equivalent of a local bathroom at your typical corner convenience store.  Now, I’m not sure if they are cleaned regularly or just the amount of people trying to get into them at the same time is slightly overwhelming. Either way, with only a few stalls available, it became instantly clear that the fellas who actually had made it to the restroom were in too much of a hurry to extend the common courtesy of lifting the seat! Now, I’m happy that they made it and all, and I’m sure they just couldn’t wait for the 2 urinals to become available. But, it did become somewhat of a downer to those of us who were in dire straits for a seat that didn’t need to be mopped and sanitized before use!  

And I get it, this story may be a little TMI (as the kids call it these days), but the point will be realized soon enough. I made the lightning quick assumption that there must be other bathrooms in the building and made a dash to find one. Much to my relief one was within distance for my body to hang on, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened a stall to find a clean seat awaiting my arrival. Now, I may have argued with you before this experience that I’m not a bathroom snob, but maybe it’s the truth. Because here I am complaining about 2 separate bathroom experiences in the same airport. So, I found myself landing in a stall where the toilet would auto flush with explosive power with any slight movement of the body detected by the sensor! Ever been on one of those?! Now, by this point, I’m what you could say, COMMITTED.  Ain’t nothing I can do about it!  It didn’t matter how hard I tried to stay still, flush after flush ensued!  By the time I was finished I think I was the one needing to be mopped and sanitized!  

So, here’s the point…

This is life, and sometimes the world can be unrelenting and unforgiving. You can’t seem to catch a break or get your head above water (of which I was so glad mine was in that experience!). You try to be still enough to avoid the situation, but somehow the problem/s seem to find their way to your doorstep. The writer of Hebrews talks about “enduring a great struggle with sufferings” in chapter 10 of the book.  

But the foundation of faith is not meant to be built on our works or our human understanding, but rather on God’s relentless pursuit of us. YES! And that’s the “relentless” we desperately need to embrace in life. So don’t let a wrong understanding of who God is cause your relationship with him to be works-based. He is a good Father, and the psalmist wrote the 23rd chapter to give us insight to how deeply God cares for us as individuals. To walk with us through dark times, as well as to provide for our much needed soul care when we choose to let Him.  

When the struggles this week feel relentless, let this humorous story remind you that God’s love for you is relentless too!