One of the most frequently asked questions by skeptics is, “If Adam and Eve were the only two people that were created, where did their son Cain get his wife?” The Bible is silent concerning the people that were born after Cain and Abel. It is also silent to the number of years that had transpired since Abel’s death. God didn’t think it was necessary to tell us everything and I’m glad He didn’t. Could you imagine how big the Bible would be if God explained it all to us? Well, all the libraries in the world couldn’t contain what God has done. The language of the Bible utilizes hyperbole to condense its content. Hyperbole is “…a figure of speech that consists of obvious over or under statements intended to give emphasis and not to deceive.” God tells us the facts; He just doesn’t tell us all the facts. And our faith doesn’t require Him to. In fact, if God has to explain everything to you –then you have a problem with faith. This is the dilemma that most people in the United States have with faith in God. They have grown up and lived with scientists explaining everything so that nothing is left to question or mystery. We have gone so far as demanding that science explain why we behave as we do! If you really think about that statement for a minute you’ll see how ludicrous that really is. Science can observe the action; it cannot observe the motive. For Pete’s sake, I don’t even understand why I do some of the things I do. Faith is trusting and obeying even if I don’t know or understand all that God is doing. God tells me to wait –so I’ll wait. God tells me to seek –so I’ll seek. I don’t need to know all the facts because I trust him who does know all the facts! Years ago a person in my church began to not appreciate the way that I was handling situations within the church. In fact, they became very vocal about it. There were attempts to reconcile but nothing seemed to work. Eventually they left the church. The main reason I believe they were so angry with me was because – they didn’t know all the facts. During the times that they would question my actions, I would still refuse to give them all the facts. There was information about other people that was none of their business. Because of my silence unfortunately the worst was assumed and a friendship was severed. The point I am making is this: During your life you will come into situations where God doesn’t tell you all the facts. I exhort you not to demand to know from Him something that is none of your business. If God thought it was necessary for you to know something –He would tell you! It’s just that simple. So, if He doesn’t –then trust Him enough to go on with your life anyway. This is what pleases God.

There is something about today’s Christian that I just don’t understand. It seems to me that with today’s new Christians there isn’t that quick transformation into the new life. The change seems superficial and only temporary –really temporary. Within months, and sometimes weeks these people seem to have abandoned the faith and given up on any real hope that God will fulfill His promise. They obviously wanted a new life but the change doesn’t come. I don’t believe it is God’s fault. Let’s look at the Word to see if we can come up with some answers. The exodus out of Egypt for the Israelites provides for us the analogy of conversion. Just as Israel was enslaved by their taskmasters, Jesus said that anyone who sins is a slave to it. When God directed Moses on the night they were to escape Egypt He told them just what they were to eat and how to eat it: “This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.” Three months later God told Moses to remind the Israelites that it was He that carried them out of Egypt on eagle’s wings. The point was that God swiftly brought them out of a life of slavery and into a life of freedom. I’m sure you have heard the old adage: you can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy. Well, it was something like that with the Israelites in their exodus. God swiftly brought them out of their slavery yet their hearts yearned for the easy life back in Egypt. Nobody said the Christian life was going to be easy. Today, people often make the mistake of thinking that once they become Christians that God will give them smooth sailing. We want our “Promise Land” today; migrating in the desert is too hard. God never intended that the Israelites spend forty years in the desert. They had to because of their unbelief and rebellion. They wanted to go back to their old life in Egypt. God wants the new Christian to be radically transformed, quickly changed from a life of slavery to sin, to a life of obedience and freedom. Salvation is described in the Bible as a change from death to life. The idea of being born-again meant that we would be born into a new and different life! Receiving salvation and staying in “Egypt” just doesn’t work! I think the problem for most is in the area of temptation. We hang around it too long. It’s easier to fall under temptation (and ask forgiveness later) than to fight to overcome it. When Potipher’s wife was tempting Joseph he didn’t hang around. The Bible says that he fled so fast he left his coat behind. Christians should flee temptation just as fast. Doesn’t James promise us that if we resist the devil he will flee? It is God’s desire that we would be quickly transformed and that we stay transformed forever. Becoming a Christian is supposed to be a permanent thing. The secret lies in obedience. The faster that we obey is in direct proportion to the radical change we will see in our lives.

It was the year that Cedar Point featured its famous Magnum 2000 roller coaster. My son, Danny, and I waited in the hour-long line and jumped into the first car. The coaster made its way up the first hill and our excitement rose along with it. I had instructed him that any good coaster was worth riding without hands and so with hands held high we began the descent. It soon became evident that the coaster exceeded our expectations and we grabbed for the bar in front of us. I think what scared us first was that we couldn’t see the track! We raced to the bottom of the hill at break-neck speed. I can remember my heart trying to leap out of my chest as if to say it didn’t want to ride this coaster. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! I remember praying, “Dear God, don’t let me die right here next to this boy.” It was all over in just under two minutes and as we exited the platform we were already deciding to ride it again! It was great fun; but that is why we go to amusement parks isn’t it? Our psyche needs that kind of stimulation from time to time. Roller Coasters may not be for everybody but there is something to be said for feeling danger while being assured of our safety. For the more reserved, it may come while at the circus watching the trapeze artists swinging a hundred feet in the air. It may be the other guy that is in the danger but we feel the excitement just the same.
I think the reason why we get so excited, whether it be in a roller coaster or on the bench at the circus, is that ultimately we know that we are not in control of what happens. We trust the engineers and technicians of the coaster and the capabilities of the trapeze artist. No one rides the coaster anticipating that this is the “last ride,” neither do people go to the circus to watch someone meet their demise. We have a need to feel safe in the midst of danger. This is what faith in God is all about. He wants us to know that we can trust Him with our lives while living life with all its dangers and pitfalls. The only problem with some folk is that they don’t let God have the control. They say they trust Him, but they want their tax rebate in their pocket, a clean bill of health, job security, retirement package and the knowledge of what is going to happen tomorrow. Could you imagine how dull life would be if God told you every morning just what was going to happen during the day, secured your finances and assured you of your health? Listen, God meant for us to live a life of faith and He even made that life of faith to be a blessing. I’m not saying that everything is going to go peachy keen and we’ll just tiptoe through this journey. We may even get scared along the way. I’ll tell you one thing though: I’d rather go through life knowing that I am safe in His hands and experience much more in that life, then I would if I just experienced those things that I knew I could control. After all, I do love the thrill of excitement from time to time

As if terrorism, global warming, and the depletion of the ozone wasn’t enough to put fear into us; as if random violence, home invasions and car-jackings weren’t enough to worry us; we now have to deal with runaway spy satellites. Yes, folks, there is a U.S. spy satellite that, at this moment, is out of control and expected to hit the earth sometime in February or March! Coming to a neighborhood near you… or maybe your neighborhood. Think about it; what if you were just heading out for the day and… SPLAT! Worry, fear and trepidation consume some; when St. Paul warned us about the perilous last days he never said anything about spy satellites! Anxiety is permeating our societies and fear has closed us in on every side. The world is in a state of fear and trepidation. What is going to happen next? Will it be a global market crash? Or perhaps it will be a new outbreak of some disease or ailment. Maybe there will be an earthquake or another devastating hurricane that will wipe out millions of dollars worth of real estate and take out thousands of lives. With all that could happen to me on this earth and in this life, there is nothing more troubling to me right now then what I am going through. It is worse than all of these things that I just spoke of; it must be, for nothing is greater on my mind than this one thing. It must be, for I am not worrying about any of those things right now. No, the thing that has been pressing upon me for the last couple of days, the one thing that has been troubling me… I have to go to the dentist! UGH! I hate going to the dentist. I hate the smell of the dentist office. I hate the waiting in the reception area. They should make that room soundproof. I shouldn’t have to hear the dentist drill while I am waiting to subject myself to the most inhumane torture known to man!!! I’d rather be struck by lightening. Maybe I’ll get lucky and that spy satellite will fall early and right on the parking lot as soon as I pull up! Did I tell you that I hate going to the dentist?
Now, you’re probably wondering, “Pastor Jim, what on earth are you talking about? You’ve been to the dentist before. You’ve lived through the ordeal. You can handle it. For Pete’s sake, it’s just a dentist visit!” You know, you’re right! I’m not afraid of global warming, terrorism, home invasions or ozone depletion. I’m not even worried about some run away spy satellite. So, if I can handle those things (and I can only handle them because of Christ) I can handle a dentist visit. In fact, I think I can handle anything that this life dishes out. Yeah, that’s right; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Isn’t it funny, with all the terrible things that are going on in this world today, we fear most the little things that may or may not happen to us? We need to get a grip! Paul asks us rhetorically, “If God be for us, who may come against us?” and then he tells us emphatically, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Beloved, we have nothing to fear, our God is still on the Throne and He loves us with the greatest of love.