I have seen many posts that tell a fantastic story designed
to make people believe in God. I will
not waste my time trying to make an atheist espouse my faith. We all have a choice to believe or to not
believe. There are things you cannot
make me believe. I choose not to.
This is how I see it on this lovely day:
Abraham heard a voice saying “Get up and take your stuff and
go to a place I will show you.”
At that point, he had a choice. He could have said “Whew! What was in that
glass?” or perhaps “What a crazy dream!” or maybe “Man that chili did a number
on me.” He might have said “People who
hear voices are crazy.” But Abraham
picked up his stuff and went.
For you it may have been an act based in a moment of emotion
or a lack of rational thought. For him
it was a choice to believe. That’s all
–just a choice to believe. It was a life
changing choice to believe and the evidence came after the choice.
When God speaks to me, I have a choice to believe or not
believe. When God says “Come” I have a
right to believe it was God and to follow.
The evidence comes after I believe.
It is true for me and for you. If
you choose to reject God, your evidence will follow. I will continue to say what I know. You will continue to believe what you choose. I cannot stop your belief. You cannot change mine. We are on parallel courses, not the same road
and not the same destiny.
I know what believing has brought to my life. I have the substance of things unseen and the
evidence of things hoped for. I do not
know what your unbelief brings you.
So if I tell you a tale about a car that runs without gas,
or a story of live bombs that will not explode, or of a blind man who acts with
sighted precision, or of a soldier who has his hand on the door when a voice
warns him to wait while a bomb explodes on the other side, you will likely not
believe the story and if you should be faced with undeniable testimony, you
will find a reason to continue not believing.
You will find your evidence.
But if you hear a voice saying “Come” or “Listen” and you
decide to believe and trust, you will find evidence and substance that makes
God undeniable and trustworthy in the most incredible, mind-blowing ways. After all He is God.
I can warn you of judgment to come. It will make no difference. I can tell you of the benefits of faith. It will mean nothing unless you choose to
hear.
I pray daily for those I love who are not believers. I ask God to speak one more time, to act one
more time, to show mercy one more time. If God tells me to speak, I will speak though
you may scorn me or hate me, for I believe in God. But most often, I will pray. I will continue, for one day you may decide to
believe God and see his evidence on the other side of faith. It is your call.
One of the amazing things to me in reading apocalyptic writings is the people who even after witnessing God's person and power still shake their fist at him. I think to myself that I would be too busy trying to get away from his gaze rather than defying him.
ReplyDeleteI am on shaky theological ground here, but there seems to me to be a people who are not God’s people, and never have been. They seem to have been sown among the population like seeds broadcast by a farmer.
So, yeah. If one is convinced that there is no God, I see no point in arguing them out of it. On some occasions, I do push them into a corner with the idea that perhaps the only reason they cannot believe in God is because God has no interest them. A couple planted that I planted that seed in eventually began to question their proofs. My hope is that they will someday challenge God with a “prove it” …
In my opinion even an angry "prove it" spoken to God is an act of faith that may or may not lead to redemption.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I was forced into a point of believing or rejecting a point that had nothing to do with salvation at all. So much evidence the others presented and I finally had to say "I will believe. . ." Amazingly the issue had plenty of support once I decided to stand. While I realize that it isn't something to go to war about, it made me see that we do believe or we don't. After 1000 years of perfection -if I read my Bible right- there will be enough unbelievers to amass a large rebellion. That is very telling.