Skip to main content

What Kind of God do you Believe In?



            “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

            Faith comes in two forms; an easier one and a harder one.

            The easier form of faith is to “believe that he (God) exists”.  This is “easier” for two reasons.  First, I can see some things that help me believe.  For example, take a few minutes and look at the starry sky tonight and ask yourself, “Do I really believe that all those stars and all those galaxies (not to mention all the ones I cannot see, do not know about and the ones that we have not even discovered yet) came about by some weird, strange and really good accident?”  Think about that long enough and you may come to the conclusion that it more reasonable to believe in a God who created all these things.  Or, hold a baby and think about the systems of the body and how they work.  Do some reading about how our eyes work and you may conclude that someone designed us.

            It is easy to acknowledge a God “somewhere”.  He was back there at creation and maybe he will show up in the future at the end of all things, maybe even in a “Judgment day”.   However, it is much harder to believe in a God that is here right now.  And that is exactly what makes the second part of Hebrew 11:6 much harder.

            It says, “Anyone who comes to him must believe that… he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”   A more modern translation says that we must believe, “both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.”  A God “somewhere” is one thing.  A God “here”, who knows me and my struggles and my life and one who cares enough to help me, that is another story. Yet, it is the true story!

            My wife, Sara, likes Luke 12:6-7 which says “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not 
one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”  Think about a God who knows you so well that he knows every hair on your head (for some of us there is less to count than others but…).  

            The message:  Do not be afraid!  You are not alone!  I, God, am with you.  I am not far off.  I am not “back there” or “coming someday”, I am here now!

            It is easy to believe that there is a God.  It is another thing to believe in a God who cares about you.

            The good news is that both statements are true!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Twenty-three Descriptions of God (Psalm 145)

  Let’s play a quick game.  Take 10 seconds and list 5 or 6 words to describe God.  Got your words?  Good!   Here comes the game part.  I will list twenty-three ways that David describes God in Psalm 145, and we will see how many of his words match yours.   David says that God is, the king, great, majestic, wonderful, powerful, awesome, abundant in goodness, righteous, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love, good to all, glorious, mighty, trustworthy, faithful, supporting, generous, providing, near, saving and watching.     How did you do? This is not a useless exercise.  The words we use to describe God not only indicate something about how we see him, but they also influence how we interact with him.  For example, if I know that God is “Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (verse 8), I will not fear him, and I will not assume that he is against me.  When I remember that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: What is so Great About Grace?

If you were to drive by our house, you would see that Sara loves plants.  Our yard is full of flowers, and Sara lovingly tends every one of them. Which is why I was so afraid when she left town and put me in charge of keeping things alive. She must have been a little concerned, too, because she sent me two videos with specific instructions on how to water, when to water, and what to do.  Honestly, those first two videos helped, but the third one she sent was the one I liked most.  In that one, she said, “Please do your best. I want the yard to look good for the family reunion in two weeks.  However, if something dies, we will dig it out and pretend that it never existed!” That is what grace looks like!  Try your best, do what you can, but if it goes wrong, it will be ok. Sometimes we talk as though grace and effort are opposites.  That is not true.  They are partners. In one place, scripture asks, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone c...
Post a Comment
Read more