My wife often tells of how she came to know Christ through the library of a Christian man she was dating, even though he was taking a little vacation from the Lord at the time. She read his books because she presumed they were important to him. She says that had they all been about baseball, she would have read them just the same (and that’s truly something because she hates baseball!). Thankfully, his books were not taking the same vacation he was on, and my wife prayed and found Christ through the power and presence of the truth about God residing in this man’s library. What he was interested in, or at least had been, became important to her.

So, what happens when I find that God is interested in the world around me? Naturally, I want to find out about that world. What happens when I discover He’s been intricately involved behind the scenes of history all along? Suddenly history takes on new meaning. What happens when I realize that all scientific and mathematical knowledge reflects a world He created and an order He intended for the universe? That can only mean I have the potential of finding His smiling face hiding behind every equation and every problem that science presents. What happens when I see His image reflected in the attempts at art and glory that come from people He has created? I want to identify that shattered image and seek to put the pieces back together so that I might know, and help others to know more intimately, what God had in mind for us from the beginning.

What happens when I see everywhere expressions of true love – hear it in songs, see it in movies, experience it celebrated in weddings and find it missing in tragic conditions? I will realize that love is of God, indeed, that God is love, and has left His mark on us and allowed us to experience His essence even when we miss Him. Every love song echoes that love. Every good deed shadows it. Every wedding makes it official. Every tragedy marks its absence.

What happens when I find out the lush rain forests He planted in South America with their intricately interwoven life forms are being systematically destroyed? What happens when I learn that men and women He created are suffering the hunger and pain of war? As a Christian, as nearly and as often as possible, I want to look at the world and think God’s thoughts. What He rejoices in becomes my joy. What breaks His heart breaks mine. I cannot love God and be detached from His world.