Obviously what's missing is Christ. But what is it about Him that distinguishes Christians from others in this world of Satan's? What's the missing piece of the puzzle? I was thinking that it was joy, but now I think it's peace.
When God works in your heart and stirs you in His direction, and you make the decision to give your life to Jesus, peace happens. And not the "oh, this is a peaceful day and no dogs are barking in the neighborhood" peace. Real, genuine peace.
Peace that allows you to hold on to hope when you see all of the injustice in the world. It lets you let go of the frustration of "they didn't deserve it" or "why them?" or "how could a God let this happen?" Peace lets all that go, and gives it to God. Because this is ultimately not my world or your world, or even God's world - it's Satan's world. And he allows all of these things, and manipulates things so we turn it back on God. But that's never what God intended. The peace Jesus brings lets me know that all things work for His good. Yes, I still get upset and angry and frustrated about some of the things that happen in the world. But ultimately, I know it's all for good. It doesn't make sense to me, but it doesn't have to. Peace allows that to be okay.
Peace brings you joy. Even though we all have bad days and sometimes nothing goes right, joy is still present. I still know, at the end of every day and even in the middle of it, that I have Jesus. And He has me. (Which is often more comforting than the former statement.) I'm not sure how to describe the joy that comes from knowing Christ. Maybe that no matter what happens, I know how the story ends. And it's a beautiful ending, one that no human could have written. That's what I get to look forward to.
Ultimately, I think that's the difference. I think a lot of people can get caught up in the terrible things of this world, and that's what draws them away from God (or so I have noticed). The starving children around the world, human trafficking, natural disasters - all those things make us look up and blame, but that's not the way it was meant to be. We should be walking in a garden with God - but we're not. Yes, because of human choice. We all have the ability to choose God or choose Satan. But this world was not God's original design. (This is where I could get into deep theological concepts, but I'll pass.) :) Satan does an incredible job of turning the blame back to God - how could He let these things happen? Isn't He all-powerful? He could change it if He wanted, and a loving God would want to. Yes, that's true, and He does. But if He did, we would lose free choice. And then what are we? Robots? Would we prefer that option?
Another one I hear a lot - "if I'm a good person I'll go to heaven." I hate that one. It is the epitome of Satan's ultimate weapon in his arsenal: mediocrity. "Well, if I fulfill these obligations, that will be good enough." Since when did we become content with being "good enough"? Why wouldn't we want amazing? Incredible? Miraculous? But we don't. "I'm a good person." What does that even mean? You don't murder others? Woah, gold star for you! To me that means that "I didn't really stand up for anything, just kinda was there my whole life, but I should get rewarded for it. I volunteered sometimes." Seriously. I think that sounds like a horrible life to live. God has so much more in store for all of us, but we insist we're not able to handle it. We fall back and say "no, you go on ahead without me." We settle for terrible.
Satan fills our lives with so many "good" things that we never look for the "great" things we could have. Our marriages are good, our kids are good, our houses are good. But we could have AMAZING things!! Satan's so good at selling mediocrity, we don't even see it. We think we're being "good people" and that's all that's necessary, we don't see that's not from God.
And I don't want anyone to think that I think I have all this figured out. I don't. I settle for Satan's "good" all the time. I back down and choose not to be bold when I hear God calling. I fail. A lot. But that's the beauty of grace - we live in a fallen world, but it's never too late to make a change (even if it's little). It's never too late to get up one day and say "I'm going to do this one thing differently." God has shown me that He hasn't called everyone to be missionaries in third-world countries converting children in orphanages. Trust me, I was there. I thought that was the only way I could make a difference. But He uses us wherever we are! We can do so much good if we BELIEVE we can do good, right where we are. There's never a shortage of people who need love, and need to know what (and who) love is.
This life is nowhere near what heaven is. But it scares me to think of all of the people I know who won't get there, because they are "good people." I seriously am troubled by this. Don't believe Satan's lies. Live abundantly! Love always. God is so much bigger than the world you've made in your mind - and He's longing to show you. Join me on my journey to find what He has in store.
