What are you pursuing?
Every trail leads somewhere.
That seems obvious when you’re standing at a trailhead with a map in your hands. If you follow one path long enough, you’ll arrive at its destination. The trail doesn’t decide where it is going while you walk. It was already leading somewhere.
Our lives are much the same.
Every desire shapes a direction. Every habit takes us somewhere. Every small decision, repeated over time, becomes a path. We rarely drift by accident. We become the people our daily pursuits are quietly forming us to be.
That is why Scripture invites us to examine more than our actions. It invites us to examine our hearts.
Last time we considered the question, “What do I desire?” It is an important question because desire always comes before pursuit.
But desire is only the beginning.
A better question may be:
What are you pursuing?
What occupies your thoughts when your mind is free to wander? What receives your best energy? What are you willing to sacrifice your time, attention, and affection to obtain?
The answers reveal more than your schedule.
They reveal your direction.
The wilderness has a way of slowing us down long enough to notice the paths we’ve been walking without thinking. Away from constant distraction, we begin to see that many of our pursuits were never carefully chosen. They simply became the direction our lives naturally drifted.
God’s invitation is not merely to stop pursuing the wrong things.
It is to follow Him so completely that our pursuits begin to change.
Trail Marker
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
God does more than redirect our steps. He redirects our hearts, and our hearts begin leading us down different paths.
Reflection
If someone quietly observed your life for the past month, what would they conclude you are pursuing?
Would they see peace? Success? Comfort? Approval? Christ?
Sometimes the direction of our lives becomes visible long before we are willing to admit where we are headed.
Invitation
Take a few moments today to reflect on the direction of your life. Not with guilt. Not with fear. Simply with honesty.
Ask God to reveal where your daily pursuits are leading you. Then ask Him to shape your desires so that the path before you leads ever closer to Him.
Continue the Journey
This Trailhead leads to Episode 3: Desire in the Dark: When Longing Feels Like Lack.
When you’re ready, join us on the trail as we explore how the things we pursue often reveal what we believe will finally satisfy us, and how God gently redirects our hearts toward something greater.
First…
Listen to the podcast:
Then…
Take a few minutes to consider what your daily choices reveal about what you are pursuing.