The story is told of a man attending a 12-step group to overcome his addiction. It is said that his older and wiser sponsor told him that he needed to pray. The younger man responded,
“But, I do not believe in God.”
The older man replied, “I did not ask you to believe in God. I only asked you to pray.”
Why is it difficult for some to believe in a higher power or a God? Many look around at the conditions of the world, and see this as evidence that there cannot be a higher power. They conclude, “No God would allow all of these terrible things to happen.”
Still, others struggle to believe because science is so compelling. Man’s answers seem to be almost better than any answers attributed to God. Those answers are sure and do not require faith and trust in someone or something you cannot see.
Still, others find it easier to believe that man has all the answers and there is nothing more than this life.
Again, why is it difficult to believe in a higher power? In my estimation, we do it every day. We trust something bigger than us almost every day of our lives, so why not believe in God?
For example, the other day I was heading to visit a new doctor for some testing. I had never been to his office so I punched the address into my cell phone and got the directions. My phone connected to a signal that I cannot see and told me the directions to go. I followed them. I made it to the doctor’s appointment right when my phone said I would.
Interestingly, I knew the area very well where the doctor’s office was. If I had chosen to go there on my own, I would have taken a very different route. I realized that had I taken the route I would have chosen (and not the one provided by the GPS in my phone), I would have been late for the appointment. I trusted my phone to get me there.
I am taking a business trip tomorrow. I have flown many times before. It is interesting to me, that most of the time when I get on the plane, the cockpit is closed. I just assume the pilot and his crew are in there. I do not know for sure, but I trust that they are in there doing their job. I occasionally will hear a message from them over the intercom. Yet, I never see the pilot, but I trust him to take me safely to my destination. So, far that trust has been well-founded. I trusted something I could not see.
Millions of people get on the internet every day and make purchases. We trust someone that we have never seen before to ship us the used book, the dress, the new headphones, or the latest gadget to us with next-day shipping. We trust some ratings provided to us by people who know this person and recommend him or her and we click out our credit card number. We trust that this is legit and we make it happen all of the time.
A couple of years ago, we discovered VRBO and Air BNB and started trying them for our vacation lodging arrangements. We got online and looked at some pictures of places we have never been. We read the reviews of other people and looked at the feedback other people offered and we trusted it. We made the decision to try the place out having never actually seen it, but trusting what we saw and read. Great times!
So, we trust higher power all the time! We trust in things we cannot see all the time. Tell me, you have not done a Google search or asked Alexa or Siri for the answer–and you believed what you found or heard! I imagine most of you have done this perhaps every day of your life. We look to something higher than us all the time and we trust it!
We live in a day where we go to Google more than God, Facebook more than faith, Instagram instead of Inspiration, and so on. We all trust these things without a second thought.
We act with faith every day that something bigger, larger, smarter, higher, or whatever than us, is trustworthy.
So, why not God? Perhaps you could make a place for Him too! You trust something higher than you every day of your life. Why not give Him a try? I promise you He will be there! He is real! He is there! I trust Him and love Him. He gets me where I need to go and helps me with what I need help with! Try it! Trust in God.
