Stumbling in the Dark

More material written for TDDM last week.

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"For even though they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." -Romans 1:21 (NASB)

Don't get me wrong; I love camping. I love pitching a tent, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire, and sleeping under the stars. I start to question the value of the whole experience, however, when a trip to the outhouse is necessary at 2 A.M. Without the aid of a flashlight, the path that took me fifteen seconds to run eight hours ago now seems endless and foreboding. If not for the desperate urge within me, I wouldn't even attempt the trip. However, it is indeed a required run, so off I go through the darkness, hoping not to trip on a root or run into a bush.

I'm sure most of you have been in a similar situation before- if not at a campsite, perhaps a lodge or even another person's home. Whenever the surroundings are unfamiliar, navigation without a source of light proves a challenge. Having a flashlight, night light, or even a bright moon makes everything so much easier!

This is the picture Paul paints when he speaks of unbelievers' hearts being "darkened." They were unwilling to give God the honour due to Him and to receive His moral guidance. They passed up the opportunity to have the illuminating presence of God fill their lives! Paul says they made foolish speculations, thinking themselves to be wise. Mathematicians have shown that humans know an incredibly small percentage of all possible knowledge, yet how smart many of us think ourselves to be! Why would you reject the God who created knowledge and instead learn everything the hard way? The only reason I can think of is that they did not want to be shown how sinful they were. Accepting the fact that God is all-knowing would require them to accept His assessment of their hearts- an ugly picture they most certainly did not want to own up to.

Even those who know God personally as their Savior can face the challenge of a heart only partially illuminated. When it feels like God is not directing our choices and opinions, it is time to check our attitude and see whether we are trying to live life in our own wisdom. Always remember that the wisdom of man is like running around in the dark, and that God offers us the path with lamp posts. It takes humility to accept that God is infinitely wiser than we are, but the end result is that you will no longer be stumbling in the dark. As you open your heart to God's wisdom through prayer, the Bible, and Christians who have gone before you, the lights will be turned on one by one and you will be able to clearly see your life as God sees it.