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- Feb 9, 2004
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- 17,078
Excruciating Pain in My Brain! - July 13, 2006
Why Contemplating Eternity Causes Random Black Outs and Major Panic Attacks in Those Who Ask the Question!
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11
Arthur Stace was an ordinary vagabond. He liked his women, his beer and his lifestyle of freedom from authority and the "normal" life afforded to others. His life as a nomad was spent satisfying no one but himself. Then one day the Lord came knocking and asked him a simple question; "Where will you be in eternity?"
This one question so perplexed him, so made his life miserable, that he gave his life to Christ. He then took to the streets with a simple piece of chalk that wrote only one word:"eternity".
He wrote this simple word at least 500,000 times before going to be with the Lord. That is 500,000 times God allowed this simple and humble man to cause 500,000 people to have a chance to reach for Christ himself. Not all would, but some did.
Why is it that when you and I try to contemplate big things, we end up frustrated? Questions such as "If God has no beginning and no end... just how did He get started? If the universe truly is vast and never ending... where does it stop? If the universe ever stops... does that mean we really are really not alone and another universe might be at the other side of the wall from our universe? God allows us to ask such questions so we will ponder our own existence, and if we are honest, come up with the answer that we are not our own.
One can look at the stars and try to write an equation that accounts for the movements of the stars across the sky, but it would not tell you of the simple beauty that it gives. One can say that all of life is random and that we are responsible only to ourselves... "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1:21 Our heart and our soul know there is a God, and that He is the eternal God.
Sit back and contemplate, for just thirty minutes, what eternity is. When you are done, you will be no closer to the answer, but you will realize that you have a choice in life. You can have an eternity in peace and prosperity with God in heaven who loves you, who cares for you and knows you. Or, you can spend it in hell with the angels of darkness and where Satan lives. He will not get to know you, he will not give you the peace you desire. His entire being is there only to tell you that you amount to nothing, that you were created from the dust, and you are no greater than the dust. He will tell you that you're worthless.
I know where the peace of God is. I know it is in the cosmos. "I know that The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalms 19:1 And I know that the questions that drive us are the questions that God has the answer to. God will reveal His answers in His time. I cannot wait to hear His answers when I ask the questions that plague me all the way to my very core.
Arthur Stace had it right when he said "Eternity". Every human that ever lives, or has lived, has had to come to terms with this question. Eternity: what is it? I believe this is why every tribe and every nation ever discovered in antiquity, or in modern times, has had some sort of belief system. Every soul has a God-shaped question in it. Who is God? And more importantly, Who is MY God? What is MY role in the cosmos? Where do I fit into the grand scheme of things?
Thank you God for setting eternity in the hearts of man. Thank you for your saving grace and for allowing me to know that my eternity is secure, and that my eternity will be spent with You. Allow me to show others the truth of your love and that it rings eternal. From everlasting to everlasting. Amen.
Carl is a freelance writer and seminary student living in Colorado Springs, CO. He currently writes on the blog site Thoughts of a Gyrovague and he can be reached at [email protected]
Why Contemplating Eternity Causes Random Black Outs and Major Panic Attacks in Those Who Ask the Question!
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11
Arthur Stace was an ordinary vagabond. He liked his women, his beer and his lifestyle of freedom from authority and the "normal" life afforded to others. His life as a nomad was spent satisfying no one but himself. Then one day the Lord came knocking and asked him a simple question; "Where will you be in eternity?"
This one question so perplexed him, so made his life miserable, that he gave his life to Christ. He then took to the streets with a simple piece of chalk that wrote only one word:"eternity".
He wrote this simple word at least 500,000 times before going to be with the Lord. That is 500,000 times God allowed this simple and humble man to cause 500,000 people to have a chance to reach for Christ himself. Not all would, but some did.
Why is it that when you and I try to contemplate big things, we end up frustrated? Questions such as "If God has no beginning and no end... just how did He get started? If the universe truly is vast and never ending... where does it stop? If the universe ever stops... does that mean we really are really not alone and another universe might be at the other side of the wall from our universe? God allows us to ask such questions so we will ponder our own existence, and if we are honest, come up with the answer that we are not our own.
One can look at the stars and try to write an equation that accounts for the movements of the stars across the sky, but it would not tell you of the simple beauty that it gives. One can say that all of life is random and that we are responsible only to ourselves... "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1:21 Our heart and our soul know there is a God, and that He is the eternal God.
Sit back and contemplate, for just thirty minutes, what eternity is. When you are done, you will be no closer to the answer, but you will realize that you have a choice in life. You can have an eternity in peace and prosperity with God in heaven who loves you, who cares for you and knows you. Or, you can spend it in hell with the angels of darkness and where Satan lives. He will not get to know you, he will not give you the peace you desire. His entire being is there only to tell you that you amount to nothing, that you were created from the dust, and you are no greater than the dust. He will tell you that you're worthless.
I know where the peace of God is. I know it is in the cosmos. "I know that The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalms 19:1 And I know that the questions that drive us are the questions that God has the answer to. God will reveal His answers in His time. I cannot wait to hear His answers when I ask the questions that plague me all the way to my very core.
Arthur Stace had it right when he said "Eternity". Every human that ever lives, or has lived, has had to come to terms with this question. Eternity: what is it? I believe this is why every tribe and every nation ever discovered in antiquity, or in modern times, has had some sort of belief system. Every soul has a God-shaped question in it. Who is God? And more importantly, Who is MY God? What is MY role in the cosmos? Where do I fit into the grand scheme of things?
Thank you God for setting eternity in the hearts of man. Thank you for your saving grace and for allowing me to know that my eternity is secure, and that my eternity will be spent with You. Allow me to show others the truth of your love and that it rings eternal. From everlasting to everlasting. Amen.
Carl is a freelance writer and seminary student living in Colorado Springs, CO. He currently writes on the blog site Thoughts of a Gyrovague and he can be reached at [email protected]
