Stop Chasing—Start Trusting

So much of life is spent chasing after friendship, love, and commitment. But God flips the script—He's the one pursuing us with relentless love. Using the memorable slogan from a contractor's van, Pastor Skip reminds us that Jesus has never burned us, lied to us, or broken trust. The invitation is to stop running and simply trust the one who's chasing you. --- Good morning, everyone. This is Wednesday, August the 12th, 2026, and I welcome you to this edition of Camino Chronicles. [laughs] We tend to, to like those who seem to like us. For example, think back to when you went to school for the first time, and you were both anxious and excited. As you met new people, you, you checked them out a- and they checked you out, and there was sort of an emotional dance going on. What you were looking for, whether realized at the time or not, was a friend. The dance of emotions doesn't stop, of course, after the first year of school. [laughs] It seems to keep going all through life a- as we meet folks, and we always have our antenna up for meeting a friend. By the teenage years, we begin to look for more than a friend, m- maybe even a lifetime mate. Hmm. A- and many of, of us now are putting that off until the 20s and 30s, but it's still the same idea. The idea of dating is, is to see how well you dance together. I mean, do you even like each other [laughs] and that sort of thing. And then the commitment of marriage, well, that's supposed to be permanent. It, it's a- it's supposed to be able to weather all storms, and it's greatly enhanced when our spiritual lives are in sync so that we can have the benefit of God as well as each other. Well, this brings me full circle to the idea of a friend, plus a realization about love. Abraham, the faith father of the Israelites, he was so close to God that he was called a friend of God. A- and I know that the Lord wants to be our friend, your friend. He, He wants to meet you even [laughs] before your first day of school and be your friend forever. He's even seeking you out to be His friend. God is intentional about friendship, and He's committed to you. Now listen, it gets better. God so loved us that He gave His Son, Jesus, to be our Redeemer, to, to pay for our sin, as Jesus continues to pursue us every day. Now, if it is true that we tend to love those who love us, then we should really love Jesus because He so loved us first. Hmm. If you like someone who likes you, and then you fall in love with someone who is in love with you, and then you marry someone who is committed to you forever, hallelujah, as you become the very bride of Christ and inheritor of His glory, His honor, His majesty, and kingdom, oh my, it might help each of us to remember that God is pursuing us with love, not hate. He's pursuing us with love, not judgment. He's pursuing us with love. [laughs] Not much else, just love. [sighs] With, with all the-- this rolling around in my soul for the last few days, yesterday evening on my way home, I saw a work van. It was a contractor's van, and he had lettering on the side of his van with more than just his name and phone number. He had a slogan, and this slogan was designed, obviously, to get my attention and, and hopefully, uh, bring him some business. The slogan read, and I quote, "Stop chasing contractors. Start trusting one." End quote. What a tremendous slogan for a work van. "Stop chasing contractors. Start trusting one." I think that's pretty cool. It almost made me wanna have a project so I could call him. [laughs] But do you see the spiritual connection? There are so many things out there chasing us for our attention, for our time, for our money, [clears throat] even lots of things trying to keep us from a committed life of faith in Jesus Christ. Folks, there are so many things chasing you, and you've no doubt been burned in the past such that trust can be a tough thing, a tough thing these days to give trust. Y- you may have been burned by a church. You may have been burned by a pastor. You've probably been burned by a Christian friend. I get it. So trust is a big deal. But here is a truth: Jesus Christ has never burned you, nor has He ever taken advantage of you, never deceived you. He has never lied to you, and Jesus Christ has never broken trust with you. It is we who have broken trust with Him, a- and we have lots of others to blame for it, but never Jesus. So [clears throat] paint a new slogan on your soul. It could be this: "Stop chasing anything other than Jesus Christ. Start chasing Him because He is chasing you." [laughs] Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Don't just chase after Him. Trust Him. Wow. Well, I don't know about you, but I feel better just thinking about it. May the Lord bless your day today. Pastor Skip signing out.