There is the mistaken belief about God that when we offend Him, He walks away from us and leaves us on our own. Not true. We do not control God’s behavior. We cannot dictate God how He will behave towards us. We can aggravate other people, get on their nerves and cause them to get really upset over us.

     Not so with God. If we could cause Him to shift His moods because of our behavior or misbehavior, then we would have a measure of control over him. That is totally unacceptable to me. God is above all of this movement that we humans feel when we are happy, sad or whatever. God is not agitated in His heaven when we violate His laws.

     He remains steady in His love. He does not take revenge on us. If he did so, we would cease to exist in a wink of an eye. He isn’t like us humans: petty, sneaky and hurtful.

God don’t just love. He is love. He remains steady in His love for us. This is regardless of our misbehaviors. We might turn our backs on Him, but He never turns His back on us. As I said, He remains steady as can be in His love and concern for us. We can foul up our relationship with Him in a thousand ways, but He still continues to remain steadfast in His love.

     I remember when I was in college that I was required to memorize a poem by Francis Thompson. Thompson was an alcoholic, but a man of considerable talent. Penniless and with no place to go, he approached a friend and asked him for food and lodging. The wise friend agreed, but only on condition that he write him a poem in return.

     Thompson wrote the “Hound of Heaven,” a beautiful poem about God’s unwavering love. I remember the first lines: “I fled Him down the night and down the days. I fled him down the arches of the years. Of my own mind and in the midst of tears, I hid from Him.”

     Thompson goes on to describe how he tried running away from God, but to no avail. God, like a persistent bloodhound, kept after him until Thompson could run no more and fell into the loving arms of the Lord.

     It is our story too. We do our craziness and try to run from Him, but the Hound of Heaven follows us, day and night, all the days of our life. He pursues us and never lets us out of his sight. Even when we don’t want God, He continues to want and love us. That is just the way He is.