A: Elsewhere in your letter, you paint a picture of your life, caught up in what you believe to be a glamorous lifestyle — hitting the latest clubs, traveling to exotic places, experimenting with alcohol and drugs, moving from one sexual encounter to another, etc.
These activities may convince you that you’ve found happiness. But have you really? Right now, it may seem so; the Bible even acknowledges that sin may have its pleasures “for a short time” (Hebrews 11:25). But some day, you’re going to wake up and ask yourself, “Is this all there is to life?” And some day (if you don’t destroy yourself first), boredom is going to overtake you. You’ll find yourself saying with the writer of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, “All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:17).
So far, you’ve deliberately left God out of your life, and you don’t want anyone to tell you you’re wrong. But I pray you will heed Jesus’ warning about the dangers of ignoring God and going along with the crowd. He said, “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:13).
God loves you (whether you believe it or not); if He didn’t, He wouldn’t care whether or not you end up destroying yourself. But He does care — and the proof is that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save you from sin’s penalty. Don’t be deceived, but discover true joy and security by giving your life to Jesus Christ.
Q: I don’t understand myself. Sometimes I feel like I love God very much, but at other times those feelings fade and I end up wondering if He even exists. I don’t want it to be like this, but how can I avoid it? — Mrs. H.K.
A: The key, very simply, is for you not to depend on your feelings, but to depend instead on God’s facts — the fact of His love for you; the fact of His unchanging promises; the fact of His constant presence.
After all, emotions come and go; one day we feel strongly about something, and the next day those feelings have faded. But God’s truth never changes — it is the same yesterday, today and forever, and it alone provides us with the solid foundation we need for our lives.
Where do we find God’s unchanging truth? We find it in His Word, the Bible. The Bible is a gift from God, given to us to tell us about His love. It also warns us about evil and the wrong paths we might be tempted to take, and shows us instead how we should live. Most of all, it points us to Jesus Christ, who came to save us from our sins and offer us eternal life. The Bible says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).
Make the Bible part of your life every day. Read it ... study it ... meditate on it ... memorize it ... believe it ... obey it ... share it. Remember Jesus’ promise: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came ... yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:24—25).
Send your queries to “My Answer,” c/o Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit www.billygraham.org.
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