Pursued Quotes

“She quoted Jesus and told me I needed to learn to turn the other cheek. “These things hit you,” she said. “They punched you in the face and now you have a choice. You can keep focusing on them and judging people who do them, or you can turn your cheek and focus on something new. Before you were obsessed with loving drugs, now you’re obsessed with hating them. Either way, your life is still ruled by them.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“To overdose is almost like being betrayed by your lover, your greatest friend, your confidante. The substance is your idol, your ultimate satisfaction, the
thing that fuels you in life and keeps you going. If it is given a place in your life, it will fight relentlessly until it becomes the supreme substance of your life. An innocent puff, a momentary euphoria, will eventually become more valuable than every other thing. It starts off as a fling, but the one-night stand gets you pregnant, and in a moment, the course of your entire life is altered.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“The truth claims and belief systems that we adhere to make up our worldview. Each worldview makes claims about the beginning, middle, and end of humanity. In other words, our worldview explains our origin, our purpose, and our end destination. As I studied, I realized that all the various worldviews could be broken down into two categories: the humanistic group which claims that humanity is all there is, or the deistic group which claims there is a creator or some form of intelligent designer.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“She quoted Jesus and told me I needed to learn to turn the other cheek. “These things hit you,” she said. “They punched you in the face and now you have a choice. You can keep focusing on them and judging people who do them, or you can turn your cheek and focus on something new. Before you were obsessed with loving drugs, now you’re obsessed with hating them. Either way, your life is still ruled by them.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“I felt so isolated, so broken, so lonely. I felt like no one on earth could understand me. I didn’t even give them the chance. I just assumed they would never understand and used that assumption to block them out all the more.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“This is not another story of some street rat getting sober or “putting his life together.” I didn’t put my life together, God did. Every time I tried to put my own life together, I made things worse. No, I am not the protagonist of this story—God is; from page one, until the day I die. He has always been the hero, He has always brought the hope. My story was written by and centers around the God who restores, redeems, and makes all things new.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“A deep sense of awe and gratitude for life was beginning to pierce through the shadows and into my heart. It had not dawned on me until this moment (as I watched distinct rays of sunshine breaking into the darkness) that without a shadow, the details of each sunray would be virtually imperceptible.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“Our culture tells us to want sex, pleasure, and instant gratification. Every hit song raves about it. Consumerism tells us that we need it now. There are a thousand voices that will sell us on these things; they’ll tell you everything you want to hear, being sure only to leave in the good parts and leave out the bad. They’ll sell you 'til you’re hooked, then you’ll sell yourself. Heck, at that point, you’ll sell your soul.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“Over time, existentialism gave way to hedonism as I made pleasure into my God. Using pleasure to fill the gap that my empty worldview created. Even though I said I was my own authority and I acted like the world revolved around me, my actions revolved around whatever gave me pleasure. My feelings were the real authority of my life.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“The surprising thing was that they didn’t care what I thought about them; they cared about me. Even though I’d inwardly made fun of them for their Bible studies, sharing their life stories, and praying, I couldn’t stop thinking about how joyful they were. How utterly different they were from any other people I’d ever met.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“I cried out, and He answered. He helped me, just like He had every other time. I thought of the Milky Way and those magnificent and grandiose beams of light, tunneling downwards. Then I thought about how the God who’d created all of that kept answering my prayers and inserting Himself, a Being more glorious and powerful than those incalculably massive stars, into my life.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“Each time around the cycle, we make slight modifications, adjusting our objectives, goals, and methods slightly, confident that this time, we will finally be satisfied.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“We keep telling ourselves, you’ll be so much happier when you find something better. And then we do find something better but still aren’t any happier. We get the dream home only to be overwhelmed by the mortgage, the dream job only to find that we now have no time to have friends or a social life. We get so loaded we don’t need to worry about money anymore, only to find that people are using us for our wealth, and our family is looking more forward to our death and their inheritance than they are to family time and our wellbeing. We realize that even after accomplishing our goals, we still have to face ourselves at the end of the day.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“In an earthbound perspective that excludes all consideration of God, there will be no day of reckoning. The good will die young, nice guys will finish last, and the murderers, rapists, and warmongers will never be held accountable for their actions. Humans will continue to be free to act like animals, biting and devouring one another. If there is no God, or Creator (no one outside the cycle) all our greatest feats and accomplishments will disappear when we die. Like chasing the wind, whatever we gain, we will eventually lose. Not only will we be forgotten when everyone we know dies, but even the greatest legacies will equate to nothing on the day that the sun burns out and the human race is no more.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“With access to the university libraries, I decided to embark on an intense journey of reflection, study, and introspection. As I did so, I realized that our beliefs and philosophies are the foundation upon which we build our lives and find our meaning. In essence, our core beliefs construct our identity. My belief that there was no objective right or wrong allowed me to justify drug use, sleeping around, and rebellion. My belief that there was no God allowed me to feel like I could do whatever I wanted and get away with it. The philosophies I believed in constructed my worldview and contributed to the sort of lifestyle I chose.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“I realized that I was full of biases that were continually shifting and changing as I acquired more information. It wasn’t until I looked past my biases that I could understand the biases of others. It wasn’t until I doubted my biases that I could be free of them.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“Though we do harm each other, sin, and act like animals at times, God has provided a future of hope for anyone who would turn from wicked things towards Him. This worldview claims that the beginning, middle, and end are all meaningful. It claims that human life holds value, not because of each individual’s accomplishments, or ability to dominate and outpace others, but because of their composition; not because of what they’ve done, or merited, but because of who made them and what He made them for.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“The Christian worldview teaches that we are more than an accident and there is more to our existence than biology and self-satisfaction. It teaches that every human is a complex and dynamic physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual being who has been intentionally created for a purpose, and who is loved deeply by their Creator.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“If I believed in this worldview, I would turn to God for my purpose and satisfaction instead of trying to find value in drugs, friendships, relationships, money, success, prosperity and other fleeting things. I would understand these things aren't capable of meeting all my needs (spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical) and would therefore stop spending my time and energy seeking them. I could stop flitting around the cycle like a moth around a light.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“Religion is just a fancy word for a belief system. Belief systems, by nature, demand exclusive devotion to their particular set of “truth” claims. Once we latch onto a set of truth claims, we are almost required to start rejecting alternative truth claims, and therefore, alternative religions. Each belief system has rules, rites, and rituals that are designed to build on one another.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“It really doesn’t matter what we think of evolution, the fact is that all American public-school systems teach it. Starting in sixth grade science and through college, this theory demands increasing devotion. With this type of education, it’s difficult to take any set of religious truth claims seriously. Not only does evolution meet all of our religious needs, but it is also presented as the only logical and empirical option.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“I didn’t mind this because it enabled me to justify the reckless lifestyle and actions I wanted, but if I’d had the choice I would have preferred an unbiased education where I could’ve learned about each viable theory.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“It’s no wonder so many of my contemporaries mocked religion. It’s no wonder Western society is leaving deistic religions in droves and becoming increasingly secular.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“I believed the only way to find truth was by asking questions and analyzing the evidence. If this God really did create all things, then I should be able to find evidence of Him in all fields of science, sociology, history, anthropology, psychology, physiology, philosophy, and reason itself.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“We live in an era of secularism where, for the first time in history, the widespread belief is that there is no ultimate hope or purpose for our existence. Hedonic pursuits are enjoyable, but they are not a sufficient purpose for which to live. Without eudaimonic happiness, it doesn’t matter how hedonistic we are, or how much we satisfy ourselves, it will likely be void of purpose and meaning.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“I was beginning to think there was no adequate reason for our existence. I realized that so long as the main pursuit of my life boiled down to hedonism that I was more like the hamster on the wheel than I cared to admit.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“It was nice that this type of peer pressure wasn’t going to get me arrested. I’d become so used to getting manipulated and talked into things, it took me a while to realize this was different. They weren’t pressing their ways on me at all. They were just grateful to live in God’s promises in the present and to be free from the binding ways of their own pasts. They cut time out each morning so they could slow down, be intentional, study an impactful life lesson, rest in God, and put on the right attitude before setting out on their day.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“Previously, I had always found joy in doing stupid things like bashing someone’s mailbox with a baseball bat, or throwing eggs at nerds, or making fun of losers. We thought that we were being rebellious, but most kids do stupid stuff like that. We’re all trying to make a name for ourselves and stand out. It wasn’t rebellious at all; self-absorption and self-advocacy were the norm. What I was doing now was true rebellion, truly unique, and meaningful in every way.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“While my previous friends had always talked constantly about girls, parties, drinking, and fights, this group invested considerable quantities of time looking out for the wellbeing of others. They made the world a better place, and they taught me to do the same. Since we were looking out for what God was doing, we would often find ourselves in the right place at the right time.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose

“My friends were teaching me to transcend that cycle and care for others. We didn’t need to prove ourselves anymore. Instead of going out of our way to beat others up, we were building them up.”
― Michael J Heil, Pursued: God’s relentless pursuit and a drug addict’s journey to finding purpose