The #1 Thing My Theology Degree Never Taught Me.

I will never forget one of my first classes at Ohio Christian University. The class was an introductory course to the concept of Theology called "Theology of The Christian Experience" (or something like that). One of the first things my professor did was go around the room and asked us each a very important question: Do you see God in the world today? Now if you're like most people, you will probably answer from a sense of pessimism and a bit of uncertainty. My answer went something like this, "Well, I believe God sent us the Holy Spirit, and God is still in control, but I also believe the world is a mess right now and sometimes it's hard to see God in the midst of sheer chaos and destruction at every corner." Maybe you've heard people answer similarly recently. We constantly hear things like "This world isn't what it used to be", or "it's hard to imagine millennial today will run our country one day - I hope I'm not around to see it." All of these statements (including the one I made my freshman year at OCU) are so far from being true. Throughout my years at OCU and many years after, God taught me a lesson a college degree couldn't.

YOU WILL ALWAYS WONDER WHERE GOD IS IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR HIM IN THE WRONG PLACES.

In other words....social media, newspapers, tv, the internet, etc. are full of everything that is wrong with the world today. While a lot of these things are platforms for something good, more often than not they are streams into panic, doubt, depression, and mounting anxiety. Most people don't want to see stories about Jesus, rather they want the down and dirty, raw catastrophes of the world and cutting edge dramas. Now don't get me wrong, Facebook and the internet are amazing evangelism tools and I am grateful for that. However, what I'm saying is that we must be very careful with what our eyes and minds consume because it will ultimately dictate the condition of our heart.

Several years later I still reflect on the question my professor asked me that day. What's funny is I obtained a theology degree with that kind of opinion - how scary is that? But maybe you and I aren't so different - how do you see it when you look at day to day life? Do you see God as active and present or do you see more of evil and destruction? Here is the truth: God is everywhere, He is all around us. The problem is we've become so good at spotting evil that our eyes have become blind to the good in the world. God hasn't gone anywhere, the treasures and blessings he pours out lie all around us. If we can start to shift our eyes towards the things that really matter (like developing a relationship with Him and reading his word), I think we'll start to notice the world is not such a bad place.

Above all else - God is in control. God is not surprised about the Corona Virus. He is not stumped on what to do about a toilet paper shortage. Rather than focus on the shortage we must focus on the surplus. The truth is God has supplied us with everything we need and so much more.