The more I'm around non-believers, the more the Lord reveals just how merciful and patient He is. And how, over and over, in spite of our rejection, He gives an abundance of good gifts.
I know this couple who want nothing to do with the God of the Bible. Certainly would not ever have Jesus Christ on their lips except to mutter a profanity. They are on their own path and what a dismal path it is.
Generous, lovely, faithful, kind, fun... They are the epitome of the Golden Family with everything they touch turning to gold.
Yet watching them from afar, an outsider looking in, you sense the lostness and despair. The worldliness that has them sinking further and further.
Every new craze, new fad, new idea, new technology has them chasing after the wind. As soon as they obtain what it is they've lusted after, they're so busy desiring the next thing, they can't possibly spend any time being thankful or enjoying the here and now.
Three years of vying for more money, getting a new car, fancifying the vacations, building up their own business, receiving promotion after promotion...
On and on it goes. And everything they work towards, they achieve.
And they're happy... For awhile.
And then the high wears off and the despair sets in and so begins the cycle anew.
Sure, they profess "faith" when they think it will get them something they really, really, really want.
But take all the comforts and ease of life away and they won't bless His name.
For them, the Bible is a religion and creation is just science.
God is made a mockery of and life on Mars? It really is true!
It's sadly laughable simply because not long ago, I was there.
Where my temporary had nothing to do with my eternal. I could never seem to find what it is I was searching for. The kids weren't well-behaved enough. The house wasn't big enough. The title at the office wasn't prestigious enough...
These earthly things are never going to satisfy me. Why? They fade and break, get lost or stolen.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Searching here, in the trappings and pleasures of this world, will never satisfy. God has a much, much bigger picture in mind and far more to offer than the newest iPhone or nice vacation.
He's revealed himself not only to the believer, but to the non-believer. From the bread rising in the oven to the sun rising on the other side of the world. From the fish in the depths of the ocean to the fish sitting in the tank on your counter. From the simple, a band-aid; to the most advanced, a prosthetic. To the clear-cut; a baby born healthy and whole, to the confused; the baby born with no heartbeat and no answer as to why. He is in everything and is everything. He is in charge.
His grace is unending, His mercies are new everyday. And for who I am now and who I was 3 years ago, I am grateful in ways words can't express.
Romans 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
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