Believe It or Not

 

No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Psalm 25:3

 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary.  Isaiah 40:28

 

Yesterday morning I read of the death of Stephen Hawking. Here’s what I know about him. He was brilliant and he was an atheist. He is quoted as having said that heaven is “a fairy tale for people who are afraid of the dark.” Now he is dead and my supposition is that he now has a greater understanding of darkness than he could ever have imagined, even with his huge intellect.

           Faith is not about IQ, nor is it about fear of the dark. Faith is about confronting that darkness with a Light that will not be overcome.  Here we come to something that the esteemed Dr. Hawking just could not comprehend. “The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it.” John 1:5

          I didn’t know Dr. Hawking personally, so it would be unfair of me to draw any conclusions as to the cause of his lack of understanding of or belief in a Power, a Being, higher than himself. From my chair, it’s easy to call it ignorance but I can’t help but see it as sad.

          Waiting for him on the other side of death, could have been a body renewed, perfected and understanding far beyond anything even his brilliant mind could have imagined. He chose to deny the existence of God and therefore lost all hope of new life.

          In this same time frame, I’m watching, again from the sidelines, a young man who is struggling to make something out of nothing. He’s on an odd journey that I would never choose. It’s difficult and awkward to say the least but there he is, plugging away, making the best of it but not getting any positive results. Beyond that there’s an underlying frustration and sadness in him.  The first I ever saw of this young man, this is what I heard him say. “I don’t believe in God. I’m an atheist. I just think the whole God thing is kind of a joke.”  Sooo grateful to be on the sidelines and not standing too close to that guy! Just kidding, I love talking to those people.

          Thinking of Steven Hawking and that other young man, this is what I see. Life is hard, on many levels. For me, even in the hard times, I have joy and peace because I know whose I am and where I’m going. My trials are momentary, temporary. (2 Corinthians 4:17) I will not land in unrelenting darkness and I don’t have to walk in it now.  For those two men, I see an arduous climb with no true support system and eternal darkness.  How does that sound to you?

          A life of faith is not without hardship, trial or even tragedy and anyone who tells you it is, is lying to you. It is however, a life of hope and joy. Those of us who believe aren’t searching for answers or meaning because we’ve already found an answer that gives meaning to everything.

          Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary. 

Isaiah 40:28  And He will never, ever give up on you. He will seek you until you draw your very last breath and if you acknowledge Him as your Lord and Savior, He will graciously bring you home.