I've tried to imagine what a deer feels when it suddenly realizes that someone or something is pursuing it. The way its tail flares up and its body crouches in readiness to spring into an escape makes me wonder if it is not only responding to an instinct to survive, but if there is a humanlike fear that grips its mind. Whatever the case may be, deer obviously react to being hunted.
When do humans feel the intense fear of being pursued? Soldiers have certainly felt it. Those who have encountered the evil intentions of a criminal have dealt with it. And some of us have unexpectedly become the hunted when we've faced, for example, the unhappy attitude of a mother bear protecting her cub. While these situations may give way to an adrenaline-drenched terror, there is a time far more serious that generates the absolute worst of emotions. It is when God goes hunting after an unrepentant heart.
The words of Psalm 7:12,13 would be frightening to read if someone were refusing to yield to God: "If a man does not repent, [God] will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts." The sobering thought about God's ability to stalk a stubborn soul is that He will surely find it. Realizing this, the only way to avoid His flaming arrows or His finely sharpened sword is to submit in repentance.
The amazing truth is that while "it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God," there is a strange comfort in understanding why He comes after us when we balk at His repentance. God hunts us because He loves us enough to capture us!
Before God ever nocks an arrow or uses His whetstone to sharpen His sword, it would be wise to kneel on the knees of the heart and submit in repentance. Otherwise, go hide . if you think you can!
