Scent of death...

For me, it always happens when I'm out and about around sunset/twilight, especially on a cool, fall evening with just the slightest bit of a breeze that falls short of chilling you.  The sunlight reaches little fingers of orange gold around the edges of my sunglasses, the mountains are turning blue with evening, everything is starting to still as creatures of the day settle down and creatures of the night haven't yet emerged.  Trees with changing leaves seem to glow in the final light of day.  In that moment... everything seems poised in perfect stillness, and I think of this passage, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made" (Romans 1:20).  What does this mean?  Those beautiful fall leaves, that golden orange sunlight on my face, those blue mountains, that clean breeze... all of it... shouts, "GOD IS REAL!!!  HE IS HERE, IN THIS MOMENT!! AND HE IS WONDERFUL AND POWERFUL AND PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL AND THE SOURCE OF THE ONLY PEACE YOU CAN EVER KNOW!!"

All of this amazing world around us knows who its creator is, but you know what's funny?  The one thing in all creation that God most wants to know and love Him... is the one thing in all creation He allows to reject Him.  Human beings.  In John 3:16(NIV), we read, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  God loved the world enough to come to send Jesus to die for us while we were "enemies of God" (Romans 5:10).  Yet, at the dawn of creation, He gave us a choice to follow Him or ourselves with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  He gave us everything - even His heart - and then gave us a choice... knowing what our choice would be.  We chose to follow ourselves, and every horrible and awful thing that has happened since is a result of this choice.

With the coming of Christ, though, there was a shift... a change.  All who believe in Christ "have eternal life" (John 3:16) and have been "reconciled to [God] through the death of his son" (Romans 5:10).  But with this comes something else:

"If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." - Jesus in John 15:19(NIV)

In other words, as Paul puts it in 1 Peter 2:11(NIV), we are "aliens and strangers in the world."  In light of this, another thought comes to mind: if we are "aliens and strangers" and "the world hates you" because  Jesus has "chosen [us] out of the world"... why do we expect things of this life to go smoothly?  We are  hated by this world.  2 Corinthians 2:16&17 says we are literally the "scent of death" to "those who are perishing."  When horrible things happen to us, and we turn to God and demand an explanation... we are asking Him a question He has already answered: the world is against us.  Every single dark and awful situation we face reminds us that this world is not our home.  It reminds us we don't belong here.

So, when these horrible things happen, remember that you are an unwelcome alien here, and call to mind this passage from Hebrews 12:1b-3:

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."