“Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious, the self-righteous, are in that danger.” C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain
Take Subject 1 (and spoiler alert, Subject 1 is me), Subject 1 was born into a well-educated, highly-churched, upper middle-class home. Subject 1 received a top-notch education, was given opportunities to travel around the world, and was generally well-liked and well-respected by everyone she met.
Take Subject 2, we’ll call her H. H was born into a drug-ridden, highly-dysfunctional, lower class home. By the time H was five she was in the foster care system, being tossed from house to house. H dropped out of high school at sixteen, which was the same year anyone had ever told her, “I love you.” The man who told H this also happened to be her pimp.
Obviously, H and I have completely different stories. H knows pain and suffering that I have never had to face. She’s seen things and done things that I, Lord willing, will never have to experience. But let me tell you something else about my friend H.
Several years ago I met H in a strip club. After several conversations, the Lord gave me an opportunity to share the gospel with her. A week later, she went to church with me, where my pastor went into even more details about a sovereign and loving God that was so committed to getting His children back, He sacrificed His own son.
That Sunday, new bible in hand and tears pouring down her face, H surrendered her life to God.
Months later, H and I were sitting over coffee and studying the bible together. We read in Hebrews about how this world is not our home and we are looking for “the city that is to come.”
H looked up from her bible and said, “You know, this all makes sense now. My whole life I’ve known that something wasn’t right here, that something was broken. Knowing Christ is the very first time in my whole life that I’ve felt satisfied.”
Oh, the conviction I felt when she said that! Can I say the same thing? Is Jesus the only one who satisfies my soul? While I know this is Truth, I fear it’s too often not how I live. I’ve been “satisfied” my whole life, by family, friends, the comforts of this world, by new and exciting life experiences. And while I have been so blessed by these things, I’ve also been so blinded by them! H was given very little to dazzle her on this earth, but imagine how dazzled she is by her God!
Friends, this world is not our home. Let us never be so comfortable in our present circumstances that we are blinded by the true satisfaction we will only find in our God.
