I was talking to a man the other day about my faith and he asked me “But do you believe all those stories of the Bible actually happened, or are they just metaphors?”
“I believe they actually happened.”
“Really? Every one?”
“Every one.”
The disbelief that came over his face, was uncanny, and yet, quite familiar. I had made those same faces before. I had maintained the same skepticisms and disbelief. I mean really, a God that parts entire seas? That rains bread from the sky? That turns sticks into snakes and women into pillars of stone? Where is this God? I’ve surely never seen him.
So I began to ask myself, why is there this stigma around God? Why are these stories seen as such fairy tales, so mystical, and impossible? Or more importantly why don’t we see these things anymore?
Where is the God of the Old Testament?
I think maybe if Jesus could just come down to Key West and part the Atlantic, or when I’m hungry in between class, maybe He could just rain down a Pub Sub from the sky, (For those that are not from the great state of Florida, Pub Subs are sub sandwiches from our glorious grocery store Publix, and they’re delicious.) then people would believe, if He did these things, God’s presence would be undeniable, right?
Wrong. We live in a society that continuously tries to disprove God, even when He’s performing miracles right in front of our face. Needless to say, if one’s eyes are not open to God, one will never see Him. Jesus is a gentleman, if we want to try and do life on our own, He’ll let us take a shot at it, but if we invite Him in? Oh my, how our World can change.
The truth is, the very same God from the Torah exists today, the One that speaks to people, that cures people, that performs miracles. But if we ever want to satisfy our curiosity and actually see Him at work, we must change the lens through which we see the world. God is real, God is alive, and He performs supernatural feats every day. We don’t notice them however, often because we don’t believe.
Unfortunately, the catch-22 is, many of us don’t believe because we haven’t experienced.
We live in a self-fulfilling society, a society where we look to man to solve all our problems. We never even give Jesus a chance. We have medicines, luxuries, substances, to curb our pain. God is often our very very last hope, that’s if we even look to him at all. Why ask an invisible God to heal my headaches, when I can just take two Excedrin and experience some temporary relief? Why ask God to heal our depression, our stress, our loneliness, anxiety, when we can just turn to drugs, alcohol, our phones, iPads, or televisions for comfort? Why ask God to show His face and run the risk of Him not showing up, when we can just buy ourselves out of depression? The truth is we have too many options, and too many distractions to experience the real God of the Bible.
Many of us are hurting for different reasons; a lack of self-worth, regrets, a loss of love, loneliness, physical pain, money troubles, emotional distress, depression, resentment, the list is endless. These religious folk speak of a Jesus that is supposedly able to heal all of these things, but many of us have never seen it happen. So instead we deny His existence, His ability to perform miracles, and turn to matters of the flesh to heal us.
But my question is, do those other options really work? Sure the Tylenol gives us temporary relief but does the pain really ever go away? We may feel happy enough to go out for cocktails or a round of beers, and put on that smile. But when we’re finally alone, meditating on our thoughts, are we truly healed, are we truly happy with where we’re at? Do you feel at peace, do you feel whole, do you feel complete? If you do, that’s amazing, God bless you! But if you don’t, I say well then, what do you have to lose? You’ve tried the human desires, you’ve tried to buy happiness, you’ve tried the temporary solutions, you’ve given them their chance, so what do you have to lose trying something else? If you ask for God’s help and He doesn’t deliver, you’ll be in the same place you are now, no worse off. But if you try and succeed, imagine what you might see, what might be possible? If you’re curious, ask God. If you’re skeptical, you’re unsure, you have your doubts, ask God. If you’re afraid of seeing His face, or afraid He may not show His face… just ask God.
In order to experience God we must believe, but in order for so many of us to believe we demand the experience first. I struggle with this on a daily basis, not just believing in His existence, but truly believing Him and what He says He is able to do. Why can’t we just take the leap of faith and see what happens?
God is not some scary, far off force that condemns us from His high horse in Heaven, He is our very real, very loving Heavenly Father, He is our Abba, our Father, our Papa, and He wants to be in a very personal relationship with us. Those who seek shall find, that is His promise (Matthew 7:7-8, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 37:4, Isaiah 30:19, Jeremiah 29:13…). If you knock, He will open the door, so what is there to lose? Will it really hinder our lives to try?
Sure we can call Him out, state our skepticisms and our doubts if we have them, and ask Him to show His face. But then, most importantly, we must cast away our biases, open our eyes and wait for His response. The same God of the Bible lives with us today, we’re just blind to Him. It’s impossible to look up at God when we’re so focused on watching those around us.
So where is the God that parted the sea? He’s still here, we just have to open our eyes and see Him.
Love,
Samara
xoxox
My Redeemer lives!!!
