A friend of mine who is starting to believe in the reality of God and the eternity of things recently asked me if I was certain God exists. When I told him I was, he asked me how. I shared with him the things that make the biggest difference for me, but I’m curious what makes the difference for others and what has helped you have confident faith in God. Having grown up in a Christian family and believing in God from a young age (though perhaps not actually following Him and trusting Him until much older), I’d also love to know, for those who struggled to believe in God’s existence for a long time (whether in general or specifically the God of the Bible), what are some of the things that were turning points in drawing you to God and convinced you of the truth of the Bible?
For me I think it’s a conviction that has continued to grow steadily over time. Though I’m sure I believed when I first began to follow Christ, I have seen the working of God time and time again throughout my life.
I love the story of Joseph in the Bible and the repeated refrain of Gen 50:20, how God uses all of the pain and suffering inflicted upon Joseph by others to bring about not only the raising up of Jospeh in station, but the salvation of his family and all of Egypt by putting Joseph in a place where he was able to prepare for the coming famine. Though this would not have been evident in the well, in slavery, or in prison, God’s plan and goodness can be seen looking back through the whole chain of events.
This is something God is still doing today (Rom 8:28). And, as I look back through my life and all of the unlikely chain of small events that led me to attend the college I went to, the roommate I was given who was not only one of the few Christians on my dorm floor but who had heard of the same small campus ministry (I think maybe 10 or so regular attenders at the time) on a campus of 30,000, and the amazing life change God brought about through that roommate and that ministry along with all the ways I found just what I needed at just the right time, I’m convinced it couldn’t be anything other than the working of God!
Similarly, it’s been amazing to see how God has used the difficulties I’ve faced to bless so many others, just as Paul says in 2 Cor 1:4, and all the ways I’ve seen Him faithfully work in the lives of those around me. So too I’ve experienced such love from those who did not know me, had no benefit in caring for me, and who just have truly displayed a kindness, patience, and gentleness that I can see no other explanation for it than that it was the work of the Spirit in their lives showing that same unconditional love that God shows to us.
In addition to these life experiences, the Bible, more than anything else I’ve seen or heard, makes sense of both the good and the evil that I see in the world. How people who seem to have such good in them can do such evil things and the failure of humanity to build righteous and just systems, in that both all of humanity is made in God’s image (Gen 1:26-31) and yet all have sinned and no one is righteous (Rom 3:9-23). So too the cycles of sin and the motivations spoken of in the Bible, I see lived out throughout both life and history. On the other hand, the life transformations I’ve seen and heard of too only makes sense to me through the working of the Holy Spirit and a God who is so much greater than us. When I look at my inner thought life, the lives of those around me, and the patterns of history, I just continue to see thoughts and actions that align with what I would expect from all that I have learned from what the Bible has taught me.
My friend however was looking for more scientific or tangible evidence. I have some hesitancy about this, both because I’m not sure what exactly scientific evidence would even look like in a context of historical events and partly because I worry that, if such an irrefutable mathematical or other proof of God existed, it would privilege those within the discipline of the proof over and above those who may not have access to the education needed to understand the argument, contrary to God’s heart for the poor and the powerless and His putting to shame the wisdom of the wise.
I did share about the practices of hand washing, treatment of waste, bodily fluids, and infectious disease, and the food laws in the Old Testament which, though not their purpose in the OT, were certainly ahead of their time sanitation practices scientifically. I also shared about the dearth of historical evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in the number, faithfulness, and proximity in time of the New Testament manuscripts as well as the recorded torturing and death of the martyrs following such recent events that could have been easily verifiable or falsifiable at the time.
For me these evidences have had little impact on my faith, but maybe they have made a significant impact for others? Have any of these evidences made a big difference for you or are there other evidences on the more tangible side that have made an impact on your faith?
Whether personal experience, scientific or historical evidence, or something else altogether, what has made you certain that God exists?