An elderly man sat near the back row for Sunday morning worship. His wife, daughter, and his mother-in-law sat to his left. There were more seats available to his right. He was hopeful that his son would be there. He hadn’t been there in years.
As the preacher began his lesson, a young man came in, sitting just a foot away and to the right of the older man. The preacher asked the congregation to tell the person on their right, “My worse subject in school was…,” and fill in the blank.
What would you have said? The older gentleman glanced at that young man on his right, saying only, “Math!”
“Now turn back to your neighbor to the right and tell them what your favorite subject was.” Again the older man glanced over to the young man, simply saying, “Speech! I love to talk,” he added. The young man nodded in understanding.
When worship ended, the elderly man’s more elderly mother-in-law asked, “Where’d Kevin go?”
The old man quickly responded, “Oh, was Kevin here?” The family looked at him in amazement.
His daughter asked, “Didn’t you recognize your own son – he was sitting right next to you?” That young man who’d come in late, and sat down next to the elderly man was his own son. He wasn’t expecting him. He hadn’t even looked at the young man’s face.
This story can remind us of another true story. Have you ever wondered where God is? Above you? To your left? In front of you? Inside you? All of these could be true. Yet, most people don’t know that God is even that close.
Are you one of them? Some live with so much sadness that they may never see God. Others don’t recognize Him. What causes so much sadness?
In Acts 17:24, Paul first lets people know that no one can find God living in a building, because He created all things. Then Paul tells people that God gave and gives them life (vs. 25).
He then says in verse 26 that God put everyone in a certain place and time for a special reason. Verse 27 has the key idea: God wants us to search for Him, but He isn’t far from anyone.
Some don’t know where to look. Others don’t recognize Him because of distortions about Him. Some don’t know that God wants to take away their sadness. Did you know that?
People who don’t understand God’s love for them can’t see Him. Too many people sadly commit suicide because they don’t know how to find God. This is what causes so much sadness in the world. He loves you! Have you found God?