God, the Truly Satisfying

As Augustine expresses his struggles to submit his heart to God in his Confessions, he gives us a truly remarkable picture of God's drawing and wooing of the unbeliever that helps us share the message of the gospel with wisdom.

This is yet another insightful contribution that gives us a great lesson about the unbelieving heart. Here, in chapter VI, paragraph 16, he wrote,

"Woe to the audacious soul which hoped that by forsaking You it would find some better thing! It tossed and turned, upon back and side and belly—but the bed is hard, and You alone give it rest."

These words remind us of his famous opening line: "for You have made us for Yourself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in You (I.1)"

Thanks to Augustine's read of his own heart, it seems we can say that the unbeliever is hoping that he's coming out ahead by rejecting the gospel. In a cost-benefit analysis, the benefits of the gospel (God declaring you not guilty for your sin, God redeeming you from slavery to sin, God's wrath against you being satisfied, the establishing of a friendship with the King of the Universe, etc.) do not outweigh the benefits they're receiving from remaining in unbelief.

Like Augustine, they think they've found something better than God. Something else has come along and promised them the rest that only the gospel truly gives. Something else seems to satisfy them, fulfill them, speak peace and joy to them.

In the end, whatever the "better thing" is, it ultimately is a counterfeit gospel that gives a counterfeit rest as their life is ultimately being controlled by a counterfeit god who does not satisfy, does not fulfill, and does not give joy and peace. That only comes when a person is connected to the God they were created to be connected to, and that connection only comes from the gospel they've traded in.

You can trust that this dynamic is going on, and our job, with insight from God's Spirit, is to patiently take the time to identify this idol in their heart--whether it's intellectual, emotional, etc.--and seek to wisely pull down that stronghold with the mighty weapons of gospel truth (cf. 2 Cor 10:3-5) in a manner that is gentle, loving, kind, respectful and gracious (cf. Eph 4:15, Col 4:5-6, 2 Tim 2:24-25, 1 Pet 3:15).