Finding God

Here's the February edition of the Chaplain's Corner

by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain

For so many of us, belief in God is a given. We have been coming to church so long, and have come to terms with belief in God so long ago that it isn’t even something we think about. We may be more interested in theologies about other matters of faith and life.

But for some people, God is still a question. There are people who will ask us, “Do you believe in God?” It may be hard for us to remember what it is like to wonder about God’s existence. It may be hard for us to understand the place others are in when they ask us, “Do you believe in God?”

Jesus says, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” That line strikes me as exactly what believing in God is like. The very fact that people can question whether there is a God or not, indicates that God isn’t obvious to everyone. We can’t perceive God with any of our five senses. We can’t see God; we can’t hear God; we can’t smell God; we can’t taste God; and we can’t touch God. A friend of mine who is an atheist once even used an earthy metaphor to deny God’s existence. And I think that his choice of metaphors reflects not only disbelief but contempt. He told me that if there were a God he’d leave some evidence behind like this guy’s father did after using the toilet. For Ken, if there were a God, we’d smell Him.

“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” It was impossible for me to convince Ken just how often I have seen God’s workings, how much the world is full of evidence for God. For those who believe in God, for those who have ears to hear, we find God everywhere we look. Countless little things appear before us that show us God’s existence and His loving presence. But in order for one to see evidence for God, one has to start with the assumption that God is there. We need to begin with the belief that there is a God, then as we look around us and reflect on events in our lives, God appears to us in countless ways. The evidence mounts. More and more evidence for God appears to us. So much so that we find it hard to imagine that everyone can’t see God.

But such a vision of God is only available to those who have ears to hear. Such a vision of God is not available to a person who begins by saying, “I don’t believe that there is a God—let Him convince me otherwise.” Beginning with a conviction of disbelief, everything can be explained in other terms than God. .

“Whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” That hidden God which some people seem never to find, is disclosed to those who begin with the assumption that He exists. Then, from being hidden, God discloses Himself more and more to the seeker. What was concealed is brought into the open. And we come to the point where disbelief is unimaginable.