I’m jealous of Moses. Not only was Moses basically unfamiliar with God early in his life, he was not even looking for Him. Yet, God appeared to him in a burning bush. God spoke to him--revealed Himself to Moses. As a result, Moses was changed forever.
Though I have humbly asked God, I have never heard God audibly speak to me, nor has he appeared to me. Yet, I still believe in Him.
Believing in God is truly a mysterious thing and we shouldn't be afraid to say so. None of us have had a “Moses experience”. While we do have strong reasons to believe in the existence of God, in the end, it is only faith that can move us beyond a position of “probability” to a position of “assurance.” Have you ever truly asked yourself, “Why do I believe in God?” If so, what are your reasons?
Out of fairness, we should give the atheist position some credit for questioning the existence of God. If God truly exists, why does he make Himself so mysterious? Yes, we can see God indirectly through his amazing creation and through the Scriptures and through our own personal experiences, but why doesn’t God just make it easier on the world and just show Himself so that all would unquestionably believe in Him? Why wouldn’t God want that?
On this side of heaven, we probably will not get an answer.
But consider this greater mystery as well…
The atheist has a few very difficult pills to swallow. First and foremost, an atheist must believe that the universe and everything in it, billions of years ago, simply exploded into being from nothing? After all, science confirms that a long, long time ago the universe exploded seemingly from nothing. Not even vacuum. Not even the color black. There wasn't even phycical space for anything to explode into. We're talking from nothing!
As improbable as it sounds, let’s just say that stuff can somehow come from nothing. By stuff we mean, basic elements like hydrogen, nitrogen, etc. And we’ll throw in some rocks and white hot stars too. Let's even throw in gravity as unexplainable as it is.
Well, here comes another difficult pill to swallow. At some point, that stuff suddenly became alive!
How?
Even if we’re talking about the simplest single celled organism, this goes completely against all reason. Atheists cannot explain the origin of life and don’t pretend to. They must accept the incredible improbability of non-living matter somehow becoming living, breathing, reproducing organisms.
But wait, there is one more pill to swallow. Somehow this stuff, the same stuff that came out of nothing, the same stuff that went from rocks to “living” organisms, then...
...then this stuff somehow developed conciousness, a personality and became self-aware! No atheist would deny that humans have all these characteristics, but how could all this happen in the face of logic and common sense? In short, how do rocks first appear from nothing, then become alive and able to reproduce, and finally develop a sense of humor, morality and capacity to fall in love? Now this is truly a mystery!
Yes, it is mysterious and mayble a tad illogical on the surface to believe in a God that we cannot directly hear or see. I would still like to have a "burning bush" happen to me too. But it is far more mysterious to not believe that He is the cause and creator of all we see and experience. We are left with two mysteries to choose from. I’ll go with the lesser of the two.
Thank you,
Pastor Adam Barton
Akron, Ohio
