During the Fall of 1993 and the Spring and Summer of 1994 was my Eagles time. I must have listened to their Greatest Hits Vol. 1&2 cds about a million times. I was working at a convenience store and every night I would put either 1 or 2 on. A friend told me that the Sad Cafe from Vol. 2 was her favorite. It is a haunting song full of nostalgia and ennui. There is one line in that song that really strikes me for some reason:

…I look at the years gone by and wonder at the powers that be. Why does fortune smile on some and let the rest go free?

According to the internet, that lyric is supposed to be Don Henley or Glenn Frey asking why are some musicians like them trapped by success and riches while other musicians are allowed to just be themselves and just do their art. I guess it was these kinds of feelings of being trapped which led them to breaking up as a band in 1980. There are many other lyrics in that song which are Biblical.

However, I think that that lyric is especially poignant to me as I wonder why some people can hear God’s word and learn and repent and others cannot. I have seen in books and on TV and in videos how some atheists have crazy, incredible experiences where they go to Heaven or see angels or the Lord somehow miraculously saves them. Yet in all my years, I have not seen anything like that. I have talked to a few people about Jesus for years and they still reject the Gospel. Neither I nor they have never seen angels or anything supernatural. I have even met some people who have gone their entire lives and never even considered spiritual things and others have said that “God pursued them”. Why does God pursue some of us and the rest of us have to just have faith that there is something else going on (behind the scenes)?

However, I do have faith that God knows what He is doing. The Israelites had a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Yet, they still disobeyed God. Samson saw first hand the miracles that the Lord performed through him, yet he still could not control his lusts. Peter lived and ate with Jesus and watched Jesus perform miracles almost daily. Yet when push came to shove, Peter still denied even knowing Jesus. Miracles and visions are not guarantees of faith, obedience, and success. Maybe seeing visions and miracles would just be a trap to me. I don’t know. I have to have faith that the Lord does.

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

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