God Is Not Real
The reason my pastor is so firm in his faith is that he has experienced something greater than himself.
Reference: v.1 We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell of your wonderful deeds. (TNIV Bible)
Explore: My pastor was preaching the other week on how it is that people come to believe. He mentioned that an atheist’s aim is to prove that there is no greater being for us to worship, therefore God is not real. However the reason my pastor is so firm in his faith is that he has experienced something greater than himself. The challenge that an atheist then has is to negate someone else’s personal experience and no one is able to do that. We can look at facts and evidence but if someone experiences something personally then that will always overpower theory.
Application: The writers of the Psalms wrote poems and songs to God depending on their experience. If they felt that God was distant they would sing a song about it, if they felt he had saved them again then a poem would be written. We are so fortunate to have in writing other people’s experiences so that we can align them to our own experience. If we are feeling that God is far from us then the Psalms remind us that others have also felt that way but to hold on to faith. Whatever we may be feeling there is no doubt someone in the Bible that has had a similar experience with God and so we can learn from others as they ‘tell of God’s wonderful deeds’ and have the faith that is needed to get us through each experience.
Prayer: Lord, we are so fortunate to have a God that desires us to experience Him. May we not lose faith when other’s try to persuade us otherwise but hold on the experiences we have with you. Amen.
What experience of God can you hold on to in your faith?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.
1 comment:
Amen to that! I spend a lot of time showing people how God is real through science and history. Since you are well educated in theological studies you will love the book i wrote. I wrote it to show people that the evidence of God is all around us and faith in Him is not a blind leap but a small visible step. Please consider reading my book “Master Science The Search For God and His Identity” you can get a free sample copy from http://www.masterscience.webs.com if you like it please consider purchasing the full version and discussing it on Christian talk show. Thanks 🙂