God's Love

Last week I had lunch with a friend of mine, and the discussion drifted into conversation about this world and whether what we experience in this life is what hell is like. My friend is in a place in his life where apparently he can't imagine anything being worse than this life -- not even hell itself. I can understand where he's coming from. Life can be extremely difficult and discouraging. But is it possible that hell will be even worse? I think so.

God's presence will be utterly and completely absent in hell. Sometimes it feels like He's not present with us here now. I know I've felt that way many times in my life, but it's absolutely not true. He is all around us in the people around us. To hear what God has to say to us, we have to be willing to open our lives up to others. We cannot do it alone. I know. I've tried. The grace in this life is that we are not alone, and we don't have to go it alone unless we choose to. We have each other.

I need to be there for others, too. This world constantly pulls me to draw within myself, to forget everyone else, and to focus on my achievements, my glory, and my success. As a follower of Christ, however, God commands me to be His hands in this world. I may be the only Jesus anyone will ever know, and if I don't take the opportunity to be Jesus to someone and love them right where they are then perhaps they will never know the miracle of God's love in their lives. That's a sad and scary thought. Sad because God desperately wants everyone to know how much He loves them and scary because that puts a heavy burden of responsibility on me. How guilty am I already of letting people down in this way? Very. Thank God for His grace.

Aaron