Finding God

I cringe whenever I hear someone say, "I could never believe in a God that would [fill in the blank]."

<I'm going to use the pronoun "He" here for simplicity in writing.  Your beliefs may differ.>

With the premise that God exists, then He is already defined.  We cannot define Him any more than we can personally define what the chemical makeup of quartz is; we must discover Him.  We must accept what He factually is.  We cannot choose what God is.

The fact that, for example, innocent children suffer in this world is evidence that this tragic occurrence fits somehow with God's nature.  God allows it for some reason.  It may be difficult for us to understand, but once we discover Him and learn His nature and His Big Picture, we should be able to understand the "why's."

If you have an "I could never believe..." in your head, stop and think for a moment.  Perhaps you're asking the wrong question.  Perhaps you should be instead trying to find God, to discover Him.

As a scientist, I cannot prove scientifically that God exists.  The supernatural is just that -- beyond science's ability to test, touch, experiment, and prove.  And, by the same token, it is also impossible to prove that God does not exist.  But as a man of faith, I know that I can prove to myself that God exists by praying to Him and, once I find them, putting His promises to the test.  I can testify so to others and share my beliefs and experiences, but I cannot objectively prove it and transfer that knowledge to others -- it is a matter of personal faith.  To discover God, you must exercise faith (knowledge/belief in something you cannot see).  To find God without faith would be like finding a scientific fact without observation and experiment -- it cannot be done.

An interesting outcome of this essay is that not all religions could be fully "true;" that is, that all their teachings about God are factually accurate.  They may be "good," and they may be close to reality, but if there really is a God, then God has one definition, one reality, one identity.  It is up to us to discover whether those differences between religions matter to God!

The agnostic may dismiss my premise, but consider this:  you cannot prove that God does not exist!