By Pastor Greg
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Why is it you never see a group of Atheists standing on the street corner evangelizing? Well, first of all, what would they say? "Pardon me friend, would you like to lose all hope?" Now I’m not trying to be critical here. I’m not trying to belittle those who have chosen to not believe. But it truly makes no sense to me, and I wish someone could explain this whole foolish notion that God does not exist. [On a side note, I find it quite humorous that atheists point to the problems in the world as evidence God does not exist. But if God does not exist then all the problems in the world are our fault. So does that mean we should become ahumanist; disbelieving in humanity because of all the problems in the world? Just wondering]. Anyway, the truth is if the atheists are right and if it is true that God does not exist, then you and I are in a real mess.
King David has said, Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” (Psalm 53:1). They are foolish because they divorce themselves from all hope. They remove themselves from the only one who can feed their starving hearts and quench their parched souls. They are fools because even though they made poor choices and destructive decisions that have left their life a train wrecked, they actually believe they can fix things; that they can clean things up on their own. They are fools because they figure that tomorrow or the next day things will turn around. They will get their life in order one of these days. But every night as their head hits the pillow they are reminded that the next day came, and their life is still a mess.
Oh yes, the fool is without hope. He struggles with self-esteem; always convinced that he is woefully inadequate and unqualified, and in his heart he knows that everyone else knows this. So he fights; not so much with others, but with the way he feels about himself. The fool is without hope. She is starving for love, to know love, yet every man she finds leaves her feeling empty and cold. And at some point in her life she begins to believe that she is unlovable.
The fool who has rejected God has no place to turn for purpose, for meaning, for hope, for strength, or for love. If they want these things in life they either must turn to other people (who will let them down), or burry their hopelessness beneath addictions and destructive behaviors. Repulsed at what they see of themselves, they numb their feelings in an attempt to escape shame, hopelessness, and guilt.
The fool who has rejected God is selfish; taking from others or using others for their own personal gain. It is the fool who has convinced himself that he deserves what others have. And he works endlessly to have the biggest and the best. It is the fool who builds his self-esteem upon what he has; things which moth and rust will destroy. On and on the descriptions will go; describing the wearisome heart that has been searching for what it will never ever find apart from God.
We live in a weary world; a world without hope, a world that knows no peace, and no love. We live in a world today where many people mask their sadness with jewelry, cars, houses, and careers. We live in a world where people chase after the very things they hope will bring them happiness, but in the end find that they have been merely chasing after the wind. And their life is just as empty and meaningless as it was before they gained all these things.
Hope, peace, and love cannot be found in being smarter, or richer, or happier. We are still just as hopeless even though we work hard at being successful, or work hard at promoting social justice (that’s when we strive to make sure all people are cared for and treated fairly). And lest you think I’m making all this up, listen to what the wisest man in the world once said. “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now (Ecclesiastes 1:2-12). This is what happens when humanity attempts to live without God. And yet an Atheist wants me to reject God and accept THIS; a life without meaning and hope? What kind of a fool does he think I am? Who is the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?
Although many search the world for peace, love, hope, and assurance, Paul tells us that it cannot be found in this world (“Under the sun”, as Solomon puts it). “You lived in this world without God and without hope” (Ephesians 2:12b). Paul says that apart from God, there is no hope. Apart from God, a person will grow weary searching for meaning and purpose. They will work to exhaustion trying figure out life or find significance in life. They will be just as weary and heavy-laden with guilt today as they were yesterday. And tomorrow will be no different. And the writers at the Atheist Revolution want to call me delusional?
One of the significant promises of Jesus is the promise of rest. He says; no, He begs, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). Jesus turns to us and says “for those who are looking for significance, for those who have become exhausted by searching this world for peace, love, hope, and meaning, come to Me: I will give you rest”. But, the key here is that we must allow ourselves to be yoked to Him.
In our culture we don’t like the idea of a yoke. We have been taught since childhood that a yoke restricts and binds. It reminds us of bondage, or servitude. We shudder at the thought of being dependent upon others. Ours is a self-made, society of free men. But those who are self-reliant, self-made, and free are still in bondage, whether they want to admit it or not. They are held captive, yet are completely unaware. Hopelessness, fear, worry, insecurity, meaningless, and sorrow are strangling them to death. And by attempting to overcome these emotions on their own, they will find no rest, no peace, and no love.
Only those who are wise enough to admit that there is no peace apart from God will ever find what they are looking for. And the point is, if we truly desire hope, peace, love, assurance, and meaning in our life, we will need to disconnect ourselves from the yoke of this world and instead connect ourselves to Christ, which means we come under His guidance. We surrender our lives to His control. If we truly want rest for our souls then we must stop fooling ourselves into thinking that we can find what we are looking for on our own. It will not happen. It simply is not there.
Somehow it doesn’t seem all that foolish to reject a life without love, without hope, without peace, without strength, without purpose and without meaning. Maybe that’s why you see Christians reaching out to the lost. They know that only Christ can fill a life with all these things and so much more.
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