We Want Romance! Our Pursuit

In past posts I spoke of the Life of Faith as a dance where Jesus leads our every step. Yes, our lives are intended to be a divine romance. Our world is steeped in the pursuit of romance. We long for it desperately. Romance in the broadest sense according to Oxford Dictionary is: “A quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life.” Romance is built into our psyche and infused into our spirits. We want romance!

Our Endless Pursuit for Romance

Look at our entertainment. Whether on TV, in movies, or books, it all drips with romance — romance between people, romance with an adventure, or romance in a pursuit. Each of us love to be in love. We want romance!

We seek romance and long for it. It captures our attention and we will go to great lengths to get it. Often we seek it, as the song says, “in all the wrong places” but it is sought with great fervor. We want romance!

If romance is so ingrained into my being, what is it for? What is the purpose of my almost involuntary pursuit of romance? Is it just motivation so we will continue as a species, or to get things done? Why do we want romance? If it is so imprinted in my DNA to pursue romance, then it must be divinely orchestrated.

We Serve A Romantic God

We want romance because we were made in the image of a romantic God. Our Creator set up the story to fulfill His deep longing for romance. We want to be pursued, and we are. We want to be Another’s fascination, and we are. Our desire is to be received just as we are, and this is true. We want it to be dramatic, and so it is. The story is exactly how we’d want it, even if we fail to see or acknowledge it. Christ is everything we’ve ever dreamt of and more. He’s the reason we want romance.

We’re intended to be The Bride of Christ. In THE STORY are all the elements of romance that we desire. Pursuit, passion, fascination, and undying love through insurmountable odds—Jesus has it all. Even a willingness to die for love! Yes, Jesus did it. But there’s an onslaught against this romance. And religion has done as much to destroy our love affair with Christ as carnality. He’s not a cold and passive Lover, as we would be led to believe. He doesn’t have cool affection for us; on the contrary, He’s deeply passionate. If He had no passion for us as His Bride (yuck), then why are we so consumed with a Love Story?

The Passionate Pursuit for Romance

We’re mere reflections of His own passionate pursuit. We only reflect His story through the cloudy vision of fallen humanity. Refracted, detracted, or even diverted, all our stories express romance because the core of our hearts seeks His romance. He has set up our stories to satisfy our yearning hearts because we must have romance.

Reflect on the story of our God’s romance with us. Think of the great lengths He goes to in order to communicate His great passion. All the object lessons which stand as guideposts to Him. Yet no love story can match the reality of His Divine Romance with us — all the world’s fairytales pale in comparison to the actuality. His story is intact to satisfy His romantic heart and to fulfill our deepest desire to have romance.

Now and Forever

One day we will be brought face to face with the One who pursues us. We will know completely how He daily expressed His romance towards us. The fog of our fallenness will lift to reveal the divine romance between God and His Bride. This is the secret of the whole universe and the subject of the entire Bible.

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance, to seek him the greatest adventure, to find him the greatest human achievement.”
– St. Augustine of Hippo.