Category: Believing in God

Okay, So Now What?

 

I hope you’re arriving here with at least a basic belief that God exists and that He created the universe, our planet and life as we know it.  If so, maybe you’re looking for an answer to “Okay, So Now What?”  Let’s talk about that.

Before I go further, however, I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.  If you’ve read some or all of the Proof of God material posted here then feel free to jump forward.  For those who haven’t, you should.  It’s good stuff.  You can start at Im-just-a-regular-guy.com then proceed through Proof Of God – The Protein, Proof of God – The Cell and Proof of God – The Cosmos.  Also, look at the supplementary articles because they’re good too.  I’m particularly pleased with the Micro Machines article.  So many amazing videos of machines, yes machines, operating within your cells!  Really amazing!

 

“Okay, Really, So Now What?”

The answer is: make a leap of faith!  Go with that feeling that’s in your heart.  Make the jump and don’t look back.

Stop everything you’re doing right now, find someplace to be alone and find God by just praying.  No need for formality.  No need for a bunch of “thou”s and “blessed”s.  Just talk to Him like you would anyone else.  It’s okay.  He’ll understand.

Be repentant and ask God for forgiveness of your sins – the things you do that are bad.  You know what they are or at least you know the biggies.  Next, thank God for the blessings in your life.  Everything.  Your family, friends, loved ones, food, roof, health, animals, purpose, fun and laughter, sunsets and rain, everything you see and have that God has granted you.  Worship Him.  If this is your first time then I hope it makes you cry – the longer and harder the better.

That’s it.  That’s how you start.  Do this over and over.  Many people do this every day, even multiple times per day.  How often is up to you.  Go with your heart.  It’ll know when you need to pray.  And listen to God.  You might be surprised.  He might talk directly to you.

When you’re ready, add in a request.  Pray for your family, friends, loved ones, neighbors, co-workers, pizza delivery person, whomever.  Pray for their health and happiness.  Pray for the things they need.  If necessary, pray that they will find God too.  Also, ask God for the things you need.  Not really the things you want – like winning the lottery.  Focus on the things you really need.  He may not answer right away or possibly ever or in a way you think he should but he’ll hear you.

 

“Okay, Then What?”

Don’t worry about that right now.  Just keep praying.  Bask in the worship of God.  Let Him fill your heart.  That’s all.

Eventually, you may choose to pursue a more formal religion.  I definitely encourage that when you’re ready.  I’m not about to prescribe where to turn.  You’ll need to decide that for yourself.  Find someone or a community of people who have been studying Him.  Learn from them so that you can grow and mature your faith in God.

 

“I Have Doubts”

Most people of faith have doubts and/or questions at some point or other.  This is natural, expected and okay.  Discuss those doubts and questions with someone you trust and who can help you find answers.  Typically those involved in more formal religions can help.  The key point is: don’t let your doubts and questions divert you from the path to enhanced faith in God.  Don’t let the pressures of the world give you hesitation either.  Stay true to your heart and to the faith in God that you know is true and right.  And keep praying!

 

Next Step

If you’re still skeptical, just curious or looking for more then read on:

Believing In God – Dealing With Good Vs. Evil

 

Attempting to Explain Good Vs Evil, The Sins of Man and Other Catastrophes

 

One of the biggest questions and/or objections surrounding the worship of God is: “How can I believe in and worship a God who allows rampant and unjust evil, pain and suffering in the world?”  This is a question that even the most devout believers struggle to answer – at least at some point.  Yet this is also a question that has been around for a long time.  Many great scholars, theologians and philosophers have debated this topic.  To be clear, I don’t intend to lay out all the arguments on both sides of the good vs evil debate.  Rather, my intent is to help you get through those questions if they cause you to hesitate in your belief and worship of God.

Questions and Their Logical Responses

Some start this debate by using logic to “prove” God created evil.  Here’s a nice short video to get you over that one.  Very nice!

 

The cause of evil in the world is due, in part, to the fact that God granted we humans free will – freedom to make our own choices and freedom to choose whether we believe and worship Him.  Unfortunately, freedom also allows many to choose poorly:

 

This one builds on free choice and goes a step or two further to talk about how we assess good vs evil and how we can best deal with evil and suffering:

I’ll be honest.  I still have a hard time with that one.  More on this in the follow-up essay.

 

This video takes the logical debate from the last video another step even further with additional logical arguments.  Warning: this one goes deep and goes there fast.  You might want to watch it a couple times.  Or move on because the next one is more clear and understandable.

 

Finally, here’s a well thought out discussion regarding good vs evil and the source of “Right Moral Behavior” or morality.  In the first part, common sources of morality are refuted.  In the latter part, morality is shown to come from God:

Summary

As you can see, the question of good vs evil and “How can I believe in and worship a God who allows rampant and unjust evil, pain and suffering in the world?” has been around a while and there are a pile of arguments for how to discuss it and, in part, help explain its existence in the presence of God.  These are all solid arguments but, I don’t know, they just don’t strike a chord with me.  While I get these arguments and the discussion of free will helps, none of them fully address the issue.  At least not for me.

While I wasn’t necessarily searching for a better answer to this question, I think the material discussed in the next section is helpful.  In fact, I find it more satisfying and more comforting.  Read all the articles there top down. Starting with this one…

God’s Plan and C.S. Lewis