God Stalkers

God Stalkers

Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth.

Psalm 73:25

I WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO BECOME A STALKER.

That may sound odd, because we’ve all heard scary stories of people like John Hinkley Jr., who because of his obsession stalked the actress Jodie Foster and then tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan to impress her.^a

There are other stories that are scary—and weird. Cristin Keleher became obsessed with former Beatle George Harrison, broke into his home, and while waiting for him, made herself a frozen pizza.^b

William Lepeska was so desperate to see tennis star Anna Kournikova that he swam across the Biscayne Bay to get to her house. Unfortunately, he went to the wrong house. He was arrested at . . . the wrong house.^c

There are scary types of stalking, but there’s also a less dangerous variety. I’m thinking of a thirteen-year-old girl who becomes obsessed with a boy at school. She thinks about him all the time. She writes his name all over her notebooks. He may not know she exists, but she’s got their babies’ names picked out already.

She times her entire day—how she gets to her classes, when she goes to the bathroom—so she can see him as many times as possible. When she sees him she’s like, “Ooooh, there he is! Oh, he’s perfect! He takes my breath away! How will I live through this weekend without seeing him till Monday? I wonder what he’s doing on Saturday? Maybe I could find out and somehow catch a glimpse of him on Saturday. He just looked my way! Did he notice me? What if . . . what if he were to come up to me? What if he were to talk to me?” This girl is obsessed with this guy, can’t stop thinking about him, has to see him, and feels like she can’t live without him. And so she stalks him.

God Stalker

A lot of people want God in their lives. Most people want God’s blessings. But what we need to want is God himself.

A God stalker is someone who seeks God more than anything, who wants more and more of him, who realizes God is what he or she needs and goes after him. A God stalker is not someone who achieves “super Christian” status. Every Christian should be a God stalker, according to what God tells us. For instance, “‘If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,’ says the LORD,”^d and “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”^e

Maybe the best example of a God stalker in the Bible is a guy from the Old Testament named David. He was the one who took on Goliath and later became king. David was a God stalker. He wasn’t perfect. He messed up and sinned just like we do, but he knew God is the greatest treasure, so he’d get up and keep pursuing him.

Check out a love poem David wrote about God:

O God, you are my God;

I earnestly search for you.

My soul thirsts for you;

my whole body longs for you

in this parched and weary land

where there is no water.

I have seen you in your sanctuary

and gazed upon your power and glory.

Your unfailing love is better than life itself;

how I praise you!

I will praise you as long as I live,

lifting up my hands to you in prayer.

You satisfy me more than the richest feast.

I will praise you with songs of joy.

I lie awake thinking of you,

meditating on you through the night.

Because you are my helper,

I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.

I cling to you;

your strong right hand holds me securely.^f

See what I mean?

Christians often talk about having a friendship with God, and it is true that God offers us friendship. But I’ve got lots of friends, and I don’t talk to any of them this way! I’ve never gone up to a friend and said, “Dude, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you. Because you are glorious. In fact, last night when I was in bed thinking of you, I just started to sing . . .”

This isn’t friendship language; this is stalker language. And it doesn’t end there. David also wrote, “Come quickly, LORD, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die.”^g He sounds like that middle-school girl: “I am so depressed! If I don’t see him soon, I . . . am . . . going . . . to . . . die!”

Do you see why I call David a God stalker? And God called David “a man after my own heart.”^h

That’s what I want for me and for you.

Here’s the good news: God isn’t avoiding us. In fact, God promises to be with us all the time.ⁱ So we don’t need to go out searching for him; we just need to pay attention. People have called this “practicing the presence of God.” We remember he’s with us, train our minds on him, and seek to stay in constant contact.

How? I love the advice Max Lucado gives in his book Just Like Jesus. He suggests that you first give God your waking thoughts. When you wake in the morning, focus your initial thoughts on him. Then give God your waiting thoughts. Spend some quiet time with God, sharing your heart with him and listening for his voice. Third, give God your whispering thoughts. Repeatedly offer up brief prayers throughout the day. You might repeat the same short prayer: “God, am I pleasing you?” “Am I in your will, Lord?” “I love and want to follow you, Jesus.” Then last, give God your waning thoughts. Talk to God as you’re falling asleep. Review your day with him. End your day by telling him you love him.

That’s something you can do.

You can go after God’s heart.

You can be a God stalker.

Now What?

• Read Matthew 13:44-46.
• Jesus is saying that if you had to give away everything to have God in your life, it would be the best trade you’d ever make. What have you had to give up to have God in your life? What might you? What would be hardest to give up? Why do you think God is worth giving up everything for?
• Generally we want to pray from our hearts with our own words. But some people find value at times in praying a prayer written by someone else. People have especially done this with the Psalms in the Bible. Today, pray Psalm 63:1-8 or Psalm 40, making the words your own and praying them from your heart.