DO YOU THINK I WILL EVER FIND GOD?

DO YOU THINK I WILL EVER FIND GOD?

Don’t forget to pray.

Scripture: John 13:34-35 (NIV) "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

1 John 3:16 (NIV) This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

John Powell, author of "Unconditional Love," tells about a student named Tommy:

Tommy was an "atheist in residence" in my Theology of Faith course. At the end of the semester, as he was handing in his final, he asked...

"Do you think I'll ever find God?" "No!" I said very emphatically. "Why not?" He responded, "I thought that was the product you were pushing."

He turned to leave and I called out, "Tommy! I don't think you'll ever find Him, but I am absolutely certain that He will find you!"

Just a few years later I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer. Before I could search him out, he came to see me. When he walked into my office, his body was very badly wasted and the long hair had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice was firm.

"Tommy, I've thought about you so often; I hear you are sick," I blurted out. "Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs. It's a matter of weeks." "Can you talk about it, Tom?" I asked. "Sure, what would you like to know?" he replied. "What's it like to be only twenty-four and dying?" "Well, it could be worse." "Like what?" "Well, like being fifty and having no values or ideals, like being fifty and thinking that booze, seducing women, and making money are the real biggies in life."

"But what I really came to see you about," Tom said, "is something you said to me on the last day of class. I asked you if you thought I would ever find God and you said, 'No!' which surprised me. Then you said, 'But He will find you.' I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was hardly intense at that time."

"But when the doctors removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant, I got serious about locating God.  When the malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out. In fact, nothing happened. Did you ever try anything for a long time with great effort and with no success? You get psychologically glutted, fed up with trying.

"Well, one day I woke up, and instead of throwing a few more futile appeals over that high brick wall to a God who may be or may not be there, I just quit.” I decided that I didn't really care about God, about an after-life, or anything like that. I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more profitable. I thought about you and your class and I remembered something else you had said: 'The essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you had loved them.'

"So, I began with the hardest one, my dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him. “Dad, the newspaper came down three slow inches. “What is it?” "Dad, I love you. I just wanted you to know that."

"The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried and he hugged me. We talked all night, even though he had to go to work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say that he loved me.

"I was only sorry about one thing... that I had waited so long. Here I was, just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to.

"Then, one day I turned around and God was there. Apparently God does things in His own way and at His own hour. But the important thing is that He was there. He found me! You were right, He found me even after I stopped looking for Him."

Note: When I read this I have to admit something very personal to you. I cried. I cried because I went through much of my life without telling my dad I loved him or hearing him say he loved me. Even after being called into the ministry it took the Lord several years to get through to this set-in-his-ways child of His. But thankfully He didn't give up and kept “pestering” me until I finally obeyed Him and did what He wanted me to do. When I could put it off no longer I made plans to travel to Atlanta to see my parents but primarily to see my dad. I went in, visited for over an hour, looking for the opportunity to tell him. Finally, it was time for me to go. I had planned to drive all the way back to Jennings, FL. where we were serving a church that day. We stood at the door. I hugged my mom and told her I loved her. I then turned to my dad and moved over in front of him and before he knew what I was doing grabbed him and said, “Dad, I love you.”  He was like hugging a telephone pole, ridged. He said nothing in reply. I released him and he turned and went back to his lounge chair and sat down and I left. I had just experienced a deeply moving spiritual encounter as a result of being obedient to God’s will. Even though my dad’s response was not what I had hoped for my spirit was flying high. After that every time an opportunity presented itself, I told my dad how much I loved him and in a very short time I heard the words that meant so much to me…I love you too.  Over the next several years I told my parents as often as I could how much I appreciated them and how thankful I was to have them as my parents. They sacrificed much and worked very hard providing for my needs and those of my brother and sisters. The amazing part about this is that once I had told my earthly father how special he was to me and how very much I loved him; my relationship with my Heavenly Father became more intimate and loving. As a result of this I am not hesitant about speaking before others and sharing with them the love I have for my Heavenly Father and the love I have for my Savior Jesus Christ. I started telling my brothers and sisters in the faith, especially those God had placed under my care as His under Shepherd, about the love I had for them. God is “LOVE.” His Love cannot be contained. Once you experience it you have no choice…you must share it with others.

Question: Aren't you glad God found you and loves you? Don’t put off telling those closest to you how much you love them. You need to put your love into words and they may need to hear it more than you may ever know.

I bring this somewhat lengthy devotional to an end by saying to all of you reading this, I LOVE YOU IN CHRIST! AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SPENDING ETERNITY WITH EACH OF YOU. david  

Did the Lord speak to you today?  Why not write it down and claim it for His Glory.

Prayer:  What do you need to pray to the Lord today? Listen to your heart. He loves you!