Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
Ever wonder what is the primary difference between the person who says there is no God and the one who says there is a Master Designer? People have debated this for centuries without a universal, agreeable answer. So, I am going to add my two cents into the equation; not because anyone asked, but it has been on my heart lately.
I always thought it was an intellectual exercise to determine whether or not God existed. Most of the time we witness two people debating the issue on stage – one for and the other against. At the end of the day the audience wouldn’t change their mind. Whatever side they agreed too at the beginning of the debate is where they remained at the end of it. That is why I now wonder if it has little to do with intellect and more to do with one’s desire.
I look at my own life as an example. In my mid-teens, life was a total mess. Looking back, I was rebellious, angry, and troubled to the point if things didn’t change, I would soon be joining some of my associates either in prison or the cemetery. Out of desperation one evening, I knelt at my bedside and for the first time cried out, if there was a God, I needed him to save me from the mess I have gotten myself into.
Up to that point, I was probably more of an agnostic. But from that moment forward, I began to slowly change the course of my life. I started to read the Bible. I would go to the library and check out books on all the main religions and world known philosophers. Then one day in my senior year of high school, I found myself standing in the middle of the hallway between classroom changes just being mentally bombarded with the thought “what is the purpose of life?”
My intensity to discover the answer grew. I realized the first hurdle was to determine whether or not God was real. Because if there was a God, then the Master Designer would have had a purpose in mind. But if there wasn’t a God, then there would be no objective purpose for life.
The switch has been thrown. For the next several years, I lived life with one leg acting as if God existed and the other leg as if there was no God – no easy task. However, the more I read both sides of the argument and witnessed the lives of people who professed in a God, the more I began to realize if there was no God, life would be better with One.
So, I made the choice one day to begin living life as if God did exist. I searched out and became a member of a faith community. I began to learn to pray and study the Bible. (after reading other religious manuscripts, I most likely initially chose the Bible because of cultural acceptance). In many ways, those early years in my twenties, I still had one leg for God and the other leg being pulled for no God. But there was one scripture that became my marching order – Romans 12:2. I began to test God’s will.
Long story short. The more I looked for Him to act upon my prayers, the more I witnessed outcomes which made me stand back in awe. Initially I thought they were coincidental. But when favorable solutions repeatedly happened in a variety of unpredictable circumstances, you begin to take notice. You witness hearts and attitudes change in people who hated you. You witness financial and physical intervention in your life and others which leave you scratching your head in amazement. You begin to witness invisible, life-giving forces weave through people’s lives which only makes you want to better understand its Source.
Over time, you begin to grow a relationship with an invisible God. You align what you read in Scripture with what you face every day. You realize you have taken what you have acquired in knowledge, learn to apply each day in your world, and grown from the experience. In hindsight, either you are crazy or you are truly experiencing the with-God life. I choose to believe the with-God life.
Yes, the long journey included acquiring knowledge and experiencing God’s grace in action. But it all started with a strong desire to know whether or not God existed. Without that desire, it would have been easy to invest only one hour toward the study, reach a negative conclusion, and move on from there. However, with the scientific mind of starting off with a hypothesis, and then spending years putting God to the test, I can now say like David wrote in the Psalms, there is nothing on earth I desire more than knowing Father-Son-Spirit.
So, you can argue mentally all day long. But I now believe only when you have the intense desire to truly search for HIM, you will find him (Hebrews 11:6).
Rooting For You in Christ!
Dr. Mike
Encourager & Author of e-Books
* Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married
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