Having Faith~In Something

Sad Memories ~ Charles Rossiter 1854

As I've been listening to the audio book Defending Your Faith by R.C. Sproul, in which he uses rational inquiry and empirical evidence to postulate the existence of God, I often think of a young friend who gave up on her Christian faith a couple of years ago. I think of her more as her birthday is soon approaching, and wish I could take her back to the days before she was enticed away by a self-avowed atheist and declared that she no longer believes there is a God. She joined a group called Recovering from Religion, thinking that the myriad of problems she was having were caused by Christianity. Indeed, that may have been her error all along--mere religion and not a true, believing relationship with Jesus Christ, God's Son.

In Psalm 53 the psalmist says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God,' ... God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God." 

My dear young friend understands so little about God. She says she is seeking truth, but she doesn't understand that God Himself is Truth. She wants to prove Him, but she is not pursuing Him, for He is not far off. If we draw near to him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).

God through the Apostle Paul tells us in Acts 17:

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us; for in Him we live and move and exist.

What my friend cannot understand, she does not accept. If we could wrap our meager minds around God, he would not be any bigger than we are. She wants her faith to be "based on evidence and reasoning that accords with her experience." Oh, my friend, the foundation of our faith cannot be our experience. It's the other way around. We interpret experiences based on our faith--be that faith in God or faith in reason. One may see death as the doorway to seeing Jesus face to face; another may see death as the end of existence. The experience, death, is the same. Faith is what makes the difference in how we interpret the experience. The real problem may be as Ravi Zacharias states in his book, Has Christianity Failed You that "It is actually a will seeking a reason to support it."

In reality, authentic atheists do not exist. The definition of an atheist is "one who denies the existence of god or gods." Someone or something rules each of us. We all set our faith somewhere--in a god, whatever we believe him or it to be. An atheist's faith is in reason or in himself or in whatever he chooses to rule him. That is an atheist's god. Paradoxical, to be sure. Even more ironic is that he defines himself by what he is not--forever drawn to the God which he shuns.

Our thoughts are not God's thoughts, nor are our ways His ways (Isaiah 55:8). I pray that my young friend will understand that the emptiness in her life (and much more is ahead with each approaching birthday without God than she can fathom) can only be filled with a vibrant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that God will continue to draw her to Himself, for we cannot come to Him unless he draws us. I pray that He will open her eyes to see how she has been caught in The Enemy's snare as he seeks those whom he may devour.

My friend has moved hundreds of miles away and broken most contact, but I will email her soon and do more planting and some watering where others may have scattered other seed. Perhaps God will be merciful and rescue her from her desperate condition.

For it is the goodness and kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). I pray that in His mercy, His goodness and kindness would lead her back to Himself and that she will begin her next year re-birthed in him. Oh, the love that will not let us go!