Many times, I have been confronted with
the question, “How do you believe in God if you can't see
Him?”
This question has been asked by others almost as many times as I've asked myself. It's a difficult question. Often, one reason enters my mind, and that's “I can't see the wind, but I can see the effects of it.”
Sure, that's a fitting answer. I can see the evidence of God in nature, and in my very life. But there's something I've overlooked for so long.
This question has been asked by others almost as many times as I've asked myself. It's a difficult question. Often, one reason enters my mind, and that's “I can't see the wind, but I can see the effects of it.”
Sure, that's a fitting answer. I can see the evidence of God in nature, and in my very life. But there's something I've overlooked for so long.
How would a person born blind believe
in those around them? They can hear them. I can't audibly hear God,
but I've heard Him. It's hard to explain, but anyone who has heard
the call of God knows what I'm referring to. A stirring of the heart,
and revelation in the mind that is, quite frankly, not my own.
There's that.
But going a little deeper, let's
consider love for a moment. It's not something that can be seen. It
can be said, but it can't be seen.
I love you.
That sentence doesn't mean all that much, yet it's been said. Not until there's some sort of sign saying it, like roses on your doorstep, or a ring on your finger, or something of the like. It's something that has to be shown, not just said, and yet it still can't be seen. How do we know it exists, then?
It's not that it doesn't exist in words or in things we see, it transcends those senses. It's something that's felt deep inside our heart, and in that mere feeling, we're more sure of it than we are of anything we can see, touch, hear, smell, or taste. It becomes a part of our existence. It is part of what makes us what we are, and we are sure of it. Because we feel it more definitely than our own heartbeat, we feel more certain of love than we're sure our heart is beating.
So how do I believe in a God I've never seen face-to-face?
Simple. As it's said twice in the first letter of John, in chapter four, “...God is love...”
Basically, I am loved by God. And once you know this feeling and embrace it, you, too, will believe in God because it's not that you can't see Him or hear Him, it's that He transcends sight and sound; He exists deeper than these fleeting senses, and instead stirs our hearts to know more certainly than we even exist that He loves us.
He loves you even now, even if you don't believe in Him. But once you realize He loves you, you will not deny that He does.
I love you.
That sentence doesn't mean all that much, yet it's been said. Not until there's some sort of sign saying it, like roses on your doorstep, or a ring on your finger, or something of the like. It's something that has to be shown, not just said, and yet it still can't be seen. How do we know it exists, then?
It's not that it doesn't exist in words or in things we see, it transcends those senses. It's something that's felt deep inside our heart, and in that mere feeling, we're more sure of it than we are of anything we can see, touch, hear, smell, or taste. It becomes a part of our existence. It is part of what makes us what we are, and we are sure of it. Because we feel it more definitely than our own heartbeat, we feel more certain of love than we're sure our heart is beating.
So how do I believe in a God I've never seen face-to-face?
Simple. As it's said twice in the first letter of John, in chapter four, “...God is love...”
Basically, I am loved by God. And once you know this feeling and embrace it, you, too, will believe in God because it's not that you can't see Him or hear Him, it's that He transcends sight and sound; He exists deeper than these fleeting senses, and instead stirs our hearts to know more certainly than we even exist that He loves us.
He loves you even now, even if you don't believe in Him. But once you realize He loves you, you will not deny that He does.
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