One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her that was driving uncomfortably close. She wanted to put some distance between herself and the truck, so she stepped on the gas. However, when she sped up, the truck did too. The faster she drove, the faster the truck went. She could not separate herself from the truck, so she became even more concerned.

At this point, she exited the highway, hoping that at last she would be free from the aggressive truck driver. But the truck followed her off the exit. Now the lady was getting scared. She turned up a main street, hoping to lose her pursuer in traffic. But the truck stayed right with her. At one point the trucker even ran a red light as he continued the chase.

Reaching a point of panic, the woman whipped her car into a convenience store parking lot and leaped out of her vehicle. She ran into the store screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his vehicle too, but instead of coming after her, he ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, the driver pulled out a man who was hiding in the back seat.

It turned out that the lady was running from the wrong man. She had no idea that a would-be rapist had hidden in her car and was waiting for an opportunity to do her harm. From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted the man and understood the danger that the woman was in. The purpose of the chase was not to harm the woman, but to save her, even at the risk of his own safety.

In the same way, many people run from God, fearing the harm that he might do to them. But God’s plans for us are not for evil; they are for our good. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

God only wants the best for us. He wants to rescue us from the hidden dangers of sin. So, he pursues us, no matter what it costs him. And it cost him the life of his son Jesus, who died on the cross to rescue us from our sins!