Who or What is Following You?

Have you ever felt like you were being followed? One night when I was in high school, I was driving home after summer band practice in my family’s second car – a 1953 Plymouth. It seems like no one else had a car like this – a greenish exterior and a blue interior. It had a 6-cylinder engine and overdrive – definitely a family car.

About half way from town to our house, I noticed that there was a car following me. I was driving below the speed limit and expected that whoever was behind me would pass, but they didn’t. I decided to slow down a little to let them by, and they slowed down. I speeded up and they did the same. I was beginning to wonder who and why I was being followed. Finally, the car passed me and I learned who was following. It was my Dad! Then I began to wonder why he was following me.

It turned out that he had been called back to work and was on his way home when he came up behind me. He had planned to follow me home, but then realized when I started changing speeds, he was causing me concern. You can imagine how relieved I felt when we got home and I found out the whole story. I was so glad I did not get caught speeding or doing something else crazy!

Reading Psalm 23 today, I was reminded of this tale from my past when I read the last verse “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” In The Message, this verse reads “Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.”

Isn’t it good to know that God’s goodness and lovingkindness are pursuing us? Isn’t it sad to think that we are sometimes in such a hurry that we don’t slow down long enough to partake of what God has for us? Maybe we need to take a look behind us occasionally and see what we may be missing.