IS THERE A GOD? How do I know there is a God?
The answer is not simple because it depends on why a person is asking. The answer also depends on a person’s reasoning abilities and a person’s willingness to accept the answers and believe them. Jesus knew people’s abilities and motives and answered accordingly.
Why do you want to know if there is a God? What evidences are you willing to accept?
Jesus said there are some who will not believe even if you show them evidence for God. They don’t want to believe. These people do not need an answer. They will only mock the answer or argue with no desire to come to a resolution.
Some may be angry at God because of something bad that happened. They believe God has failed them and choose to go away from God or doubt that God exists. Their question may not be so much “is there God” as “why would God let this happen”? They may come back to God once they resolve their grief. Most people do.
Some have honest doubts and need satisfying answers to help them believe because they want to believe. But why believe in God? Belief does no good unless a person wants to have a God who is worth worshiping and following as one’s supreme director and eternal life-giver.
A person also needs to consider that answers may lead to other questions. Those questions may need answering before accepting their content as good evidences for the existence of God.
Having made these introductory comments, here are some reasons for God's existence that have satisfied me.
1. I know there is a God because when I feared death and prayed for Jesus to give me life so that I would not die, I experienced a peace inside of myself that I cannot deny. It was as if He gave me an assurance that He heard my prayer and answered it. Later in my life I learned more of an explanation about what God did for me as a result of that experience, for example, He gave me His Spirit.
2. I know there is a God because I have heard lots of other people talk about amazing things that He did to change their lives from really bad stuff to a whole new and better life. God is experienced as real when a person trusts him for salvation and as a result is given God's gift of His holy Spirit. Anyone possessing God's Spirit knows there is a God.
3. I know there is a God because when I study nature closely I see incredible designs that look very much as if someone had planned them. Chance happenings would be much harder to believe than that an awesome mind was behind all the detailed workings that exist in the universe.
4. I know there is a God because lots of circumstances have convinced me that there must be some power out there that cares about me. For example, as a small child I asked God to help my paper airplane fly and it sailed perfectly across the room. It had not done that in all my previous attempts. Once, I went to the porch door to let my barking dog out and as I touched the door handle, a huge tree limb broke and fell and crushed the bike on which I had been sitting. Once I had a garage sale to make money for a mission trip. I counted $199.50 at the end and remarked, “God if I had another 50 cents, I would have an even $200. Just then a little boy came and wanted to buy something. All he had was 50 cents. I can name many circumstances in my life which I attribute to a caring divine power in the world. The Bible book of Esther is full of such evidences.
5. I know there is a God because Jesus said there was God. I believe what He said because He claimed to be God and to have come from God. I figure, “He for sure ought to know.” Of course, to know what Jesus said I rely upon the witness of those who wrote what Jesus said as recorded in the Bible. This means I must know the Bible is accurate in what it says. But that is another question to be answered.
Here are some closing comments:
When I say that “I know” there is a God, you must understand that it is not something anyone can know with 100% certainty. Very little, if anything in this world, can be absolutely proven 100%. For example, if I fly in an airplane, I cannot know if it will make it to the destination, but I still get on. I have to trust it or I would never do it. Trust must always be involved if one wants to know of God. One either trusts the kinds of evidences and experiences I have talked about, or not.
When I do trust them, it seems God confirms in my heart that He is there. Trust becomes a kind of knowledge that gives certainty to ones heart. The Bible says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction (or evidence) of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
A person may say, but what if I haven’t experienced these kinds of things that convince me there is a God. I say, there is always something to be believed that points to God. Begin trusting the sources of information you have and be asking God to make Himself real to you. If you are honest and want God to be in your life, you will come to know Him. He wants you to, believe me.
Some may ask, but what if bad things happen that make me think there must not be a God? Or, my prayers don’t get answered? These are questions that take us in another direction. We may be hurt or disappointed, but that does not mean there is no God.
A person must also realize that there are lots of gods talked about in this world. What God do you want to believe exists? The God of the Bible is one who loves and cares and plans to restore all things to goodness, and who also rewards the righteous and the wicked with what they deserve according to their deeds. Do you want to believe in the God who is presented in the Bible? Do you want to have Him be the director of your life? Will you sell out for Him? There is, in fact, no other supreme God that exists.
