I’ve been doing a heck of a lot of writing lately, both
blog-wise and journaling. The stuff I have posted here is just a fraction of
what I have actually written and truthfully, there are about 20 more blogs I
have notes on with intention to write that I have not gotten to yet. It seems
once I start to explore one thing, another pops up. And since I’m trying to
limit my posts to one topic at a time, I end up with a lot of stuff!!!
Two things I know I want to focus on in this blog going
forward are discussing mental issues (I really don’t like the term mental
illness, but I use it because that is what mental issues, disorders, problems etc.
are mainly referred to as now) and God/spirituality. Whenever I start talking
about anything psychology, or societally related, it always circles back to God
without me even trying. I think because in the end, there is no man made fix. I’m
always reaching back back back, looking to the root cause of things and ways it
can be fixed. But it really can’t be by any man made means, or it would have
been done by now.
So this post is going to focus on faith, and how faith in
God is important.
Someone I know is taking a religion class on the New
Testament for their degree (required by the school, not the person’s degree
program.) This person has never really been a believer in God or Christianity,
in fact they don’t know anything about the Bible. So now they have been reading
the New Testament for the first time, asking me lots of Bible related questions
and so we’ve had some interesting discussions. Last night the topic arose of “How
can I believe in God when there is no proof?” And my answer was something I
only recently came to understand fully – that a person must have faith in God,
in order to see that proof.
What is faith, really? You hear Christians talk about faith
all the time, faith in God, faith in Jesus. Faith, faith, faith. The New
Testament is absolutely filled with scriptures talking about the importance of
having faith. But most people never stop to think about what that really means.
If you were to say you had faith in your friend that they
would be able to lose weight, or ace an upcoming job interview, what would you
mean by that? You’d mean that you believed in them, that you had complete
confidence in what they could do or achieve, even if you had no definitive way
of knowing that they WOULD lose weight or get the job. To have faith in God
MEANS to believe in him, whether we can see him or not, whether we have any
proof or not.
So now I have to address the idea of what constitutes proof.
I think it is so hard for scientifically minded or academically minded people
to believe in God because they want “proof”. Generally this means some sort of
physical, tangible thing. So if it cannot be tasted/touched/seen/smelled/felt
then it is concluded that it must not exist. As an academically minded person
myself, I find this thinking to be very strange. There are countless things
that cannot be measured with physical means and yet we know to exist. When we
feel we love someone, can that be measured with scientific or medical means? Is
love truly in our “hearts” as the saying goes? We know it exists solely within
our minds. The same is true for any ideas we have at all. They exist within our
minds, in a place that cannot be measured. Yet nothing of man-made origin would
exist without them. Can a doctor cut into our anatomic brain, remove a slice
and examine it under a microscope and say, “Ahhhh yes. There is Nicole’s idea
about faith. I can see it now.” No. The only way we even know ideas exist are
because we see the OUTWARD manifestation of those ideas, which are created with
our physical bodies and discerned by our senses, NOT because we see the ideas
themselves. Ideas are esoteric, but we know they exist.
By the same token, if we have faith and believe God exists,
we can see his hand in what we know, his supremely intelligent design. Years
back, I took Human Anatomy & Physiology, not an easy class. I had to study
an 1100 page medical book from cover to cover, dissection labs, the works. It
was a very in-depth, holistic view, down the complex chemical processes that
occur each second in order to sustain life. When you begin to see how
everything is connected, you cannot help but be filled with awe. Nothing is
superfluous. Everything has a purpose, a function. It all works together. The
absolute magnitude of processes that occur simultaneously is truly mind
boggling. When the slightest thing becomes out of alignment, it can cause
sickness and death almost immediately. I honestly cannot believe that anyone
who has ever studied medicine could deny God. We take our bodies and minds for
granted every day. But if you stop to think about the process of anything in
nature – the formation of planets, the growth of a plant, human life – the
answer to me is beyond clear. The Bible even addresses this to skeptics of God:
“The
heavens are declaring the glory of God; The skies above proclaim the work of his hands. Day after
day their speech bubbles forth,
And night after night they reveal knowledge.” (Psalms 19:1, 2)
“For his invisible qualities
are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived
by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are
inexcusable.” (Romans 1:20)
A person doesn’t need higher education to be able to look at
a sunset and be in amazement, or to wonder about the magnitude of the universe
or marvel at the birth of a child. These are things each one of us is capable
of seeing and knowing and believing. The idea that only certain people who are
geniuses can understand things, is simply not true. God allows himself to been
seen, if a person truly wants to “see” him.
It is interesting to note, that even in Jesus’ time when he
WAS giving them physical proof, in the form of miracles such as curing the
blind or raising the dead, many STILL did not believe, and they still had no
faith at all. So, seeing is not always believing, as the saying goes.
Mankind seems, as a whole these days, obsessed with the idea that their knowledge and wisdom is superior. The apostle Paul had some great words in his letter to the
Corinthians about man’s idea of wisdom and God’s idea of wisdom, and reminds us not to be led down a false path.
“And
I came to you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling; and my speech
and what I preached were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a
demonstration of spirit and power, so that your
faith might be, not in men’s wisdom, but in God’s power.” (1st Cor. 2:4, 5)
“Now
we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit that is from God, so that we
might know the things that have been kindly given us by God. These things we
also speak, not with words taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by the
spirit, as we explain spiritual matters with spiritual words. But a physical
man does not accept the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him; and he cannot get to know them, because they are examined spiritually.” (1st Corinthians 2:12-14)
Now, don’t get me wrong. Knowledge, and wisdom are
important. We should always strive to gain knowledge and wisdom. However, we
should never be so arrogant as to assume that WE are the most intelligent
things in the universe. We need to remain humble and be willing to acknowledge
that we do not have all the answers, we do not have all the knowledge and the
wisdom. If we try to elevate ourselves to a level that clearly does not belong
to us, it simply shows pride and arrogance in our own smarts and abilities.
“For
the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written: “He
catches the wise in their own cunning.” And again:
“Jehovah knows that the reasonings of the wise men are futile.” (1st Cor. 3:19, 20)
“At that time Jesus
said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have
hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little
children.” (Matthew 11:25, New International Version)
So, getting back to the idea of faith. I myself have always
had an inclination toward the sciences, with an unending curiosity and quest to
find answers. I would consider myself to be a very intelligent person and enjoy
research and study and learning the intricate processes by which things occur.
But I realize not everyone is so inclined. I believe that the proof that God
exists is clear to any who are genuinely seeking it, and seeking him in their
lives – no matter what that person’s knowledge level may be. The realm of
science and medicine and academia (in general) wants people to believe that
they are the ones who have all the answers, and that if you believe in God, you
are both uneducated and a fool. Yet, scientists constantly revise their own
thoughts and theories about how things work, year by year, and it is always
changing. Scientists and doctors and professors – the so-called “intellectual”
or “wise” ones, according to our society, have not been able to cure the world
of disease, get people to live peaceably with each other, or thwart every human’s
ultimate foe – death, no matter how hard they try. It’s just a repetitive cycle
as one generation dies and another rises up and takes its place. Paul reminds us about having faith in God, and warns us about being overly trusting of man's abilities.
“Therefore,
just as you have accepted Christ Jesus the Lord, go on walking in union with
him, being rooted and
built up in him and being stabilized in the faith, just as you were taught, and
overflowing with thanksgiving. Look out that no
one takes you captive by means of the philosophy and empty deception according
to human tradition, according to the elementary things of the world and not
according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:6-8)
“It
is better to take refuge in Jehovah
Than to trust in humans.” (Psalms 118:8)
God is
timeless and unending and has created all that see and know. He was there at the beginning of it and will be there
always. If you have faith, you can be assured that what he promises will undoubtedly come to pass.
“Do
you not know? Have you not heard? Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, is a God for all
eternity. He never tires out or grows weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power
to the tired one
And full might to those lacking strength. Boys will tire
out and grow weary,
And young men will stumble and fall, But those
hoping in Jehovah will regain power. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary;
They will walk and not tire out.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)
“And the One seated on the
throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.” Also he says: “Write, for
these words are faithful and true.” And he said to
me: “They have come to pass! I am the Al′pha and the O·me′ga, the beginning and
the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the spring of the water of life
free.” (Revelation 21:5, 6)
“For all the things that
were written beforehand were written for our instruction, so that through our
endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope.”
(Romans 15:4)
Interestingly, I saw an omega sign in the sky the other day and thought of God. For those unfamiliar, here are Alpha and Omega (first and last letter of the Greek alphabet, hence the scriptural reference to first and last.)
Here are the photos I took from my backyard. First when I noticed it and second as it started drifting away. Yes, probably made by a plane but interesting how they made the Omega sign. And yes, it reminded me to
have faith.
