DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?

“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4

I have asked this question many times and I have received varying answers. But no answer has actually ever got the question correctly. I am not asking if you believe what man says about God.

I am a Christian and I believe the bible but no matter how much God inspired the bible might be, when pen was put to paper, it was by human hands. And when those ancient writings were translated to different versions and languages, it was by human scholars. We have had divinity explained to us by humanity.

But there is something that man has no hand in that explains the divine to us in a way no words can. The psalmist said “Look to nature and understand the ways of God”, so when I say do you believe in God, I am asking if you believe IN God!

When you look up to the starry sky, do you sense the divine? ; When you hear the booming thunder and watch the rolling lightning splitting the sky, do you feel awe? ; When you plant a seed and see the first thrust of its tentative growth out of the soil, do you feel that quickening in your heart? ; When you raise your face to the sun and feel its warmth, do you wonder about the countless mysteries space still hides in its wombs?

 In your search for answers, do you pause to think of what or who the question might be? ; As you follow science’s relentless quest for knowledge, do you ever sit and ask what is the foundation of that knowledge? ; In the Big Bang Theory, do you ask about the power behind the Bang? ; Do you ever hesitate and think there just might be a bigger truth out there?

Have you ever had a near miss and felt that scary tingle of “it should have been me”? ; Have you ever questioned coincidence? ; Do you walk past history and think how big, how far and how numerous the past is? ; Do you hear of an archeological discovery and feet your heart teeter on edge?

When you put your hand on the swelling mound of your belly and feel the beating life, do you think of creation? ; When you hold that precious bundle and count toes and fingers, do you wonder how? ; Do you at any moment question what you think you know? 

Do you?

Or have you lost the magic?

Do you believe in God?

SHIT DOESN’T HAPPEN!

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed” Deut 30:19

There’s a saying that “shit happens and life goes on” but I say “shit doesn’t happen and life goes on”. All the things we see around us are as a result of the choices we make not as a result of “shit chance” or bad luck.

Someone made the choice to fly the planes into the twin towers. Another person made the choice to fight back. Thousands of brave men and women who had made the choice to fight for and defend their country were sent to war. Millions of others who had made the choice to work and pay tax ensured the money for that war.

What of the things we don’t actively and willingly choose? Every choice has a ripple effect. Just like the choice of a few mad men to wage a terrorist war affected the lives of millions so also the choice Adam made gazillion years ago is affecting us till today. He gave up his dominion over the earth and we became subjects of a power which now rule the earth and that makes “shit happen”.

So just like your 5foot father (from a lineage of 5 footers) made the choice to marry your 4 foot mother (from a lineage of 4 footers) and with both genes combined you turned out a midget. Talk about having the choice of height snapped right out of your hands! Once Adam made that choice we had no choice again. No more say in what happens to us.

Christ came to restore that choice to us. He came to give us an alternative. So now we can decide all on our own whether to rule and become kings over every circumstance and situation or be slaves to “happening shits”.

There’s one thing God has never interfered with. That is freewill. All over the bible we see choices laid out for us. People say they cannot fathom a God who gives a choice to believe Him and live or not believe Him and die. Tobacco companies also give us the choice to smoke and die or not smoke and live and we choose, don’t we? That is freedom of choice!

How else is God to play it? Leave us free to do whatever and no consequences whatever? As a parent have you forgotten telling your child “if you ace this exam, you will go to Disney but if you don’t, you will take summer classes”? You say that is mild compared to the options God is offering? Well, remember the choices we have is a battle for our very lives, our souls, our spirits, and our destinies so it’s far bigger than end of term results. It’s huge enough to get God to come down in human form. We are playing for high stakes here so God cannot afford to offer up frivolous options.

Stop blaming God for the ‘bad’ things that happen. Realize those are the ripple effects of choices people made. Just as the color of your skin, texture of your hair and length of your legs was determined by the choices your ancestors made. Then when you accept that, you can begin to understand that you can make another choice not to live your life by the choice Adam made. You can take the alternative Christ offers.

Then “shit” won’t have to happen. What of Christians whom “shit” happens to? You see, that’s what maturing into Christ(ianity) does. It makes you like Jesus. You become above it all like he was on earth and still is in heaven. Then you get to determine the “shit” that happens or you can choose to make sure no “shit” ever happens.