I stood at the exit from the airport and couldn’t help but shiver as the doors in front of me slid open and the cold air rushed in. Returning to -20 degrees Celsius after basking in sunshine and strolling on white beaches was a bit of a shock. When my husband and I chose the dates for our vacation we had no idea that we would miss the ‘deep freeze’ that hit much of western Canada during those two weeks. Our timing couldn’t have been better! But now we were back.

The doors behind me opened and a young man dressed in shorts, t-shirt, and sandals, with a huge scarf around his neck charged toward the outer doors, his voice repeating loudly: “It’s not that cold, it’s not that cold, it’s not that cold.” I couldn’t help but laugh. As I saw his breath form a vapor cloud in the cold air, I knew no matter how many times he told himself it wasn’t that cold, the reality would not change. It was still -20. I hoped he didn’t have far to walk.

As I think about that young man it reminds me of the times in my life when I, and others around me, have denied reality because it did not suit our circumstances at the time. Like the day a group of us headed out on a bus to attend a conference in Calgary, even though the radio that morning had warned of white-out conditions on the road. The weather was fine when we headed out but not far down the highway, we found ourselves driving through a blizzard. We never did make it to Calgary and we were very fortunate not to have ended up in the ditch, or worse.

All of us have a tendency to deny reality now and then. Some of us deny the very existence of God, even though there is evidence all around us that our world was formed by an intelligent and incredibly imaginative creator. Like our denial of bad weather, doing so can have dire consequences. In the first book of Romans, verses 18 to 20, the apostle Paul warns:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

“Without excuse.” If that young man wearing shorts into -20 degree temperatures got frostbite it would be his own doing. If we had gone off the road in that blizzard, we would have had no one to blame but our own foolishness. If you deny the existence of God, the consequences are on you.

Look around you. The evidence is plain to see. God exists. And He wants to get to know you now.

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