Articles
"That Won't Happen to Me!"
How many people in their youth attempted some dangerous and foolhardy stunt, thinking nothing bad would happen to them? How many people have gotten drunk and got behind the wheel thinking, “I can do this without any problems”? How many people have had adulterous affairs, thinking, “No one will ever know”? How many people began drinking or using illegal narcotics, thinking, “I won’t get hooked”? All of these situations and many more are all examples of the foolish thinking of humans, who briefly consider the dangers and the potential negative consequences, and then tell themselves [and maybe others], “That won’t happen to me!”
And then it does.
Numerous young people have been seriously injured or killed because they foolishly risked their lives. More than 13,000 people died in 2022 in automobile accidents due to drunk driving. Thousands, if not millions, of families have been destroyed and lives permanently changed for the worse because of adulterous affairs that were known. Millions of people in this country and around the world are now addicted to alcohol and drugs because they took that first drink or ingested, smoked, or injected that very addictive drug. Though many convince themselves, “That won’t happen to me,” the reality is something quite different, and never for the better.
Man is sometimes no different and no better when it comes to spiritual matters, either. Foolish and wicked men have done their evil, telling themselves, “The Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob understand” (Psa. 94:3-7). Or, “He has said in his heart, ‘God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see’” (Psa. 10:11). Each time the wicked ones act with this foolish thought, they are essentially saying, “God won’t know, so He won’t punish me!” But He does know, and the unrepentant wicked ones will be punished.
The psalmist answered the foolish thinking of the wicked, asking, “Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct, He who teaches man knowledge? The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile” (Psa. 94:8-11). David recognized, and acknowledged to God in his prayer, “I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness” (1 Chron. 29:17). Samuel learned of this truth when he went to go anoint King Saul’s replacement; after thinking one of David’s brothers would be the one, the Lord told Samuel, “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). David would later admonish his son Solomon, as he was about to take over rule of Israel, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts” (1 Chron. 28:9).
The foolish and evil acts committed by men are indeed known by God; He even knows the thoughts and intentions of the wicked [and all men]! For any man to think God will not know is the height of foolishness, and the certain consequence from having deceived self will not be what anyone desires. You see, while some of those same wicked men deceived themselves into thinking God would not see or know, they were also deceiving themselves, saying to God, “You will not require an account” (Psa. 10:13), The psalmist replies immediately after, saying, “But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, to repay it by Your hand” (Psa. 10:14). The Lord Himself would answer these foolish ones, on one occasion plainly warning them, “And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil’” (Zeph. 1:12). And He did.
And how many people today simply live their lives with no thoughts of God, their souls, and eternity, and should someone mention the reality of God, the certainty of judgment, and the need to prepare before they die, they shrug their shoulders and say, “That won’t happen to me!” I actually had one young man tell me, “Oh, I’m just going to have fun while I can and start following God right before I die.” I then asked him, “So, you know the day you’re going to die?” He had nothing else to say after that; even he could see the foolishness of his boasting.
But I am afraid many more do not see the foolishness of their boasting, or the foolishness of their delay in acting on what they know. Many, unfortunately, live as if time won’t end for them, willfully ignorant of the fact, “No man knows what is to be; who can tell him what will be after him?” (Eccl. 10:14). We forget, sometimes, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psa. 90:10) — and that 70 or 80 years is not guaranteed, my friend! As the wise writer reminds us, “For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them” (Eccl. 9:12).
And should we also be thinking we won’t have to give an account to God — you know, because we are ‘good people’ — we best think again. God plainly tells us, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10, 12). He also told us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). And if you’re still thinking God won’t know or God didn’t see, think again! God plainly tells us that on that day, the Lord will “both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts” (1 Cor. 4:5; NASB). Yes, the Lord will even consider our motives in Judgment!
And let us not take for granted that even what we do as a matter of faith is acceptable to God — that it is done according to His will. Jesus once told of an occasion when some would stand before Him in the Judgment, saying, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” and He will say to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7:22, 23). We each have the responsibility [and no one else can do this for us] to verify that what we believe and practice as matters of faith are, in fact, the will of God and Christ. Remember, Jesus also said just prior to this scene, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Are we truly doing the will of the Father, or are we just doing what pleases us? One may give us pleasure in this life, but only one will please the Father. Don’t take this lightly and say to yourself or to others, “That won’t happen to me!” Are you certain? Do you want to rest your eternal fate on “probably,” or would it be better to know for sure?
It is, and will be, a sad reality that many die thinking, “That will never happen to me!” But Jesus has said plainly that some “will go away into everlasting punishment” (Matt. 25:46); don’t let that be you. And don’t think it won’t happen, if you die unprepared. It will. — Steven Harper
