Is God Real?

I have a handful of people in my life that don’t believe in God, or are confused about what exactly they believe.   Many times we will have conversations about God, and exactly why they don’t believe in Him, and why I do.  What I have found, is that usually the people who don’t believe, either are thinking of life in black and white, and not in shades of grey, and are thinking about it, which is the first problem.

Most of these people were either raised in a home where one, or both, of the parents were confused about their faith, or had no thoughts on it at all.   The go to question for these people is, if there is a God, which there is, why does He allow all the horrible things to happen in this world?  Why would He let a child die from Cancer, or starve to death, but yet horrible people are still alive, and thriving. 

This is a very tough thing to answer, and most of the time, I just say, I am not sure why, but I believe with every part of me, He has a reason and plan for everything that happens.   Then when I ask them, so what do you think happens to you when you die, the response is either, I go into the ground and that’s it, or I am not sure.   I personally like the, I am not sure answer more, that shows that there is some wiggle room in there for me to change their minds.

Almost 90% of the time the question is turned back to me and asked, why would I believe in something I can’t see, touch or hear?   I am a smart person, why would I buy into the story telling of people who are clinging to something to ease their fears of death.   My answer is because I know that God exists.  I know what He has done in my life.

You see none of these people knew me ten years ago, or fifteen years ago, or twenty years ago.  None of these people knew me before I knew God.  None of them can say, yes, I see the changes in you since you accepted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, and now I understand why you deeply believe.   I will still say to them, because He saved me.   He took a life that wanted to die, and He saved it, and not only did He save it, but He gave it Hope.   He changed my eyesight, and my heart and gave me His.  He exchanged my wounds, for His healing and took my hardened heart, and gave me His tender one.

I will also say, because He loved me first.  Yes, horrible things happen in this world, but what I’ve always wondered is why does God always get the bad rap for that?  Why doesn’t satan ever get called out for the bad things that happen around us daily?   Or, why aren’t we held accountable for our poor choices and bad behavior?  Why is the out always God?  Anyway, I digress.

How can I not love a Man, who sent His Son, to die for me on a Cross, when He didn’t have too?  How can I not take up my Cross and follow a Man who has changed my life, from death to life.   Or a Man who loves me so much, he gives me this promise.

(Romans 8:35-39) Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword? (36) Even as it is written.  For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter. (37) Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. (38) For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers. (39) Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How can I deny that love?   No one has ever given me a promise like that, and then kept it.  No one has ever seen the horrible things I have done in my life, and said, it’s okay, because I still love you.  There is nothing NO THING you can ever do that will cause me to stop loving you.  There is NO PLACE you can ever be that I won’t be right there with you. 

Paul is telling us, God knows, this road is not going to be easy.  People will hate you because you love Him, but don’t you worry because He is still there.  He knows that you will have troubles and tribulations in His name.  He knows that you might stumble and fall, but again, He’s still there.    He is telling us that not only is He still there, but as long as we put our faith in Him, that we are the Sheep led to slaughter, for Him, he will make us more than conquerors. 

He will make the road that is hard and rocky, and He will make it as if it was a straight, smooth path.  He will make sure that you’re covered under His protection, and will deliver you a conqueror, with a victory that surpasses everything, because we are doing it through Him.

So when people ask me, why do you believe in God, I ask them, why don’t you?  I don’t need to see Him to know that He exists.  I don’t need to feel Him to know that He exists.  I don’t need to hear His voice to know that He exists.  All I need to do is look at my face in the mirror, and I know that He exists.  If He didn’t exist, neither would I.