"Keep not thy silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2. For, lo,
thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head." If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that we are like the psalmist, because we sometimes wish that God would speak and end all doubt. The psalmist was concerned because the enemies of God were raising havoc, as they always do. I, too, wish sometimes that God would just shout for the entire world to hear. He didn't do it for the psalmist, and He will not do it for us. Why? God does not have to prove Himself, nor does He have to prove His existence. The Bible makes it plain that God has shouted in His own way. His creation speaks for Him. It just makes sense that where there is a design, there is a designer. All that we see in the universe could not have just happened. In Psalm 19:1-2, David said as much: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. 2. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge." The knowledge of the universe in David's day was not what it is today. Knowing what we know about the universe, we should see the hand of God at work even more than David did. God has given us proof of His existence, if we will just look, listen and learn. If one does not want to believe in God, he will not believe, even if God should shout from heaven. Just know this: God does not have to prove anything to us. One of the main claims of unbelievers is that God has not made Himself known. Robert Ingersoll a famous atheist in the early years of the twentieth century used to get up in front of a crowd and dare God to kill him. Of course God never did that. However, he did finally die as all people do – in God’s time not his own. There are other evidences of His existence, like the Bible, but what we have dealt with should suffice. God wants us to come to Him by faith. Hebrews 11:6: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him (God): for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." In John 20:29, Jesus said to Thomas: "...Thomas because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed." Thomas was absent when Jesus first appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, and when told that Jesus was alive, Thomas said that he would not believe unless he saw and touched Jesus' hands and feet. Like Thomas, we have to take God on His terms not ours. The terms of our acceptance with Him are faith. We must simply believe that "He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." In other words, we must believe that God exists and that He wants to be involved in our lives. God wants us to seek Him, and when we do seek Him, we will find that He has been seeking us. One of the main “proofs” for believers is their experience with God when they trust Jesus as their Savior. People’s changed lives could serve as proof of God’s existence if unbelievers would pay attention. When it was announced in 1966, I think it was, that “God is dead,” Billy Graham responded that He knew God was not dead, because he had talked to Him that morning. Incidentally, there were people who actually believed this. Just come to God by faith in Jesus, take Him at His word, and devote your life to Him. He will be real enough then so that He will not have to shout from heaven. You will have accepted Him on His terms, and that is what He expects of us. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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