Armstrong, Folds, and Jobs

I'm trying to understand.

Lance Armstrong, Ben Folds, and Steve Jobs have indirectly, but strongly, influenced and inspired my life. I respect them for their achievements, work ethic, creativity, and contributions. However, all three of these men are either agnostic or ambivalent about God. How is that possible?

Clearly God is using these guys, and others like them, in amazing ways. I don't believe for a second that any of them could do what they do or have done without the power of the Holy Spirit. And yet, none of them acknowledge God in their life. In fact, mostly because of their upbringing and personal experience, sometimes they are hostile when discussing their creator.

And yet God uses them to inspire and move others to be great in their own lives without recognizing the source of the greatness, or the purpose of the life lived. I don't get it. I also don't understand why God doesn't promote believers into similar positions of influence. As much as I hate the Broncos, I absolutely love what Tim Tebow brings to the field of professional football. But Tebow seems to be the exception.

I understand that there is the world and there is God's Kingdom and those are two different but not mutually exclusive places. I just wonder what the world of Armstrong, Folds, and Jobs would be like if Jesus sat on their throne. Would their focus turn away from their own accomplishment and thereby make them less great achievers? Or would a proper focus in their lives propel them beyond what they achieved without asking God for direction? And how would the world be better?

I want God to use me in great ways. I know that I am uniquely created for a purpose, to love God. Also to spread his love to others and to be open to his direction and path as I navigate through my life. I wonder what it would be like to be as influential as one of my heros. I suppose I am in smaller, more personal ways with the people who I encounter daily. I still wonder.

I wonder too what happens to those who God loves but who don't love God back. What do they decide when the day of reckoning comes? I can't imagine anyone rejecting Jesus face to face. But if one doesn't invite Jesus into his or her life while living, will death really change their attitudes? And how would you like to be the person who realizes too late that you really weren't the one in the driver's seat of your life; that all our your "accomplishments" were really nothing without God?

Explain that.