“I believe in myself,” said the young teenager after asking several young people, “who do you believe in?” This is a common answer by young people in Mainland China today. They don’t believe in anything…except for themselves.
This is not a phenomenon only found in China. We find this attitude all over the world. We have always been humanists…we believe in ourselves! “Since I cannot see God he cannot exist,” we say. Many of us ask, “Prove that He exists and then I will believe.” This kind of thinking is fallacy. The very fact that we exist, for instance, proves that God exists.
Several months ago, when visiting good friends west of Toronto, their neighbors joined us for dinner. The discussion quickly moved to God. I could tell the husband’s demeanor became very agitated. After going deeper into discussing the existence of God he become very angry. “How in the world can you say that God exists? There’s no such thing as God. I cannot believe in a God who allows evil in this world such as innocent children dying of cancer or a teenager losing his life in a terrible car accident. A God who allows suffering in this world cannot be God.” Really what he was saying is “I rather believe in myself. This way I know what I get.”
It’s interesting that all of us have some kind of idea of who God is. We might have been told about God in Sunday school…or by our parents…or by our friends. All of us have some kind a sense of who God is. At some point we decide whether we want to believe in Him or not. A lot of our belief system is directly related to either a positive or negative experiences in our lives. But that doesn’t change who God is nor that He exists. As Daniel says in the Old Testament, “God does as he pleases.” (Daniel 4:35) This doesn’t mean that God is a weird killjoy who doesn’t care about us. What it does say is that He is God, not us!
Another verse says this. “Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists.” (Heb 11:16) This is the crux of the matter. At some point all of us have to pick knowledge that we don’t understand that we can approve all we can do is have faith and believe. This is what makes Christianity so powerful; this is why Christianity is the only true religion. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” (John 12:25) You see…we have to believe.
At some point in our life, all of us have to give up…we have to give up saying “I believe in myself” and start saying, “I believe in God!” Even if I don’t completely understand Him and even if I cannot completely prove that He exists YET I need to come to the point of saying, I believe. That is the beginning of a wonderful relationship with God. That is the beginning of a new life, a life that will never perish (John 3:16)
Once we have come to that point of surrender we then are open to learn about God and who He truly is. How do we do this? By reading about Him in His word. One of the greatest descriptions of who God is is found in Isaiah 40. Read it and invite the Holy Spirit to teach you about Him…about who He really is. Fill your mind with the facts from scripture instead of the facts from somebody else’s opinion about God. That is surrender. The truth will set you free.
Does God exist? We know this because He has revealed Himself through His Word, through His Son Jesus and through His creation. Trust His word…trust Him!
God exists!
