Is God Driving You Crazy?
Thursday, January 4, 2018 at 10:16AM 
“Paul, you are beside yourself; much learning has made you mad.” Acts 26:24
Festus thought Paul was crazy. Yes, Paul just saw a light brighter than the sun. He just heard voices. He had conversations with a dead man. He believed God talked directly to him. He made a radical break with the Jewish religion and became a disciple of a man who had just been crucified for his crimes. But, there’s something familiar about the charge of being mad.
Jesus was thought mad. “And many of them said, He has a devil, and is mad.” John 10:20. Rhoda. “And they said unto her, You are mad.” Acts 12:15. The first Pentecostals. “And they were all amazed, and doubted, and said, ‘What does this mean?’ Others mockingly said, ‘These men are drunk on new wine.’” Acts 2:12-13. Anything or anyone that the world sees as not normal is branded as crazy. Festus was really saying: “Settle down. Go home. Relax. Go have a drink. You’re too wrought up over this. Just be normal. Go back to being a normal human being.”
So, was Festus the standard for what is normal and natural? Actually, our world is so sub-normal that whenever someone becomes normal, everyone thinks they are abnormal. Anyone who begins to get it right about God incurs the wrath and scorn of their peers. (1 Peter 4:1-4). It seems that the inmates are running the institution. Somebody has switched all the price tags, changed all the rules; turned the world upside down. Things that used to be right are now wrong, and vice versa. Things that used to be good are now bad, and vice versa. In fact, when someone says, “That’s bad,” they mean “that’s good.” When I walk out of the house in the morning, my hair is combed, shirt tucked in, face shaved, wearing a coat and tie. How weird is that? Moreover, I believe marriage is for keeps; a person’s word ought to be as good as gold; everyone ought to tell the truth; people should give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wages; and, you ought to be able to understand the words to songs. In our world, the worst people are the best people. When the degenerates and immoral people from Hollywood speak, everybody listens. When arrogant and rebellious athletes do some outrageous act, it’s too cool. When rappers slam cops, talk up rape and malign authorities, it’s harmless fun. You have to wonder who’s really crazy in our world?
The best, wisest, sanest, most sensible path you’ll ever take is to believe in God with all your heart. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18. The dirty little secret is that the devil’s crowd is crazy. It all started in the Garden of Eden. “And the serpent said unto the woman, ‘You will not die.’” Genesis 3:4. So, man is God? That’s crazy! So, mankind’s eyes are opened? That’s crazy! “But if our gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost, those whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. So, people know the difference between good and evil? That’s crazy!
No. you are not crazy. You are not crazy for believing in prayer, or for having an experience with God, or for hearing the voice of God, or to live your life according to scriptural principles. Throw your life with reckless abandon into the arms of the everlasting God. It’s the sane choice!
Reader Comments (1)
I really liked that blog, but - that is the UGLISET 'thing' I have ever seen!