FOUNDATION

God

Pillar I believe in God. I believe he exists. But I don't believe there is a proof-positive, no-argument way to convince anyone else that he exists. It is a personal thing. But what I can do is at least explain why I believe in him, and how, knowing that he exists, it is a personal pillar for me.

There are two ways to look at God:

• He is all powerful.
• And he is all personal.

First, the all powerful. He created the universe, all life, all the systems that support life, everything (Genesis 1:1). It is an astonishing thing, and the Bible is filled with that astonishment and amazement, praising his great glory (Psalm 19:1-2, Psalm 145:3-4, Psalm 111:2-4, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 8:3-4). In fact, the Bible claims that the created world makes God known (Job 12:7-10) and those who view the creation and don't acknowledge his power have no excuse (Romans 1:20).

I don't need to be told about the complexity of life to believe in God, but the more I hear and learn about it, the more God is confirmed for me. I don't need to be told about the intricate symphony of processes and events that led to life being possible on earth to believe in God, but the more I hear and learn about it, the more God is confirmed for me.

Second, the all personal. When people mock those who believe in God, it is usually the personal they focus in on. “You believe in Santa Claus,” they say. And, in a way, their focus is well directed. I think it is harder to believe in a personal God, a God who is everywhere, a God who knows everything, a God who hears your every thought, than it is to believe in a powerful God who created everything (and then maybe walked away, like a watchmaker).

And yet it is the personal that is the most powerful. This is the personal God that David describes in Psalm 139 —

Psa 139:1-4 : 1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

The personal God, this was what was most amazing and astonishing to David —

Psa 139:6 : Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

And it is this knowledge of a personal God that makes it the first and most obvious foundational pillar for me. I can say to myself, “Don't forget God,” but, really, how can I forget him? I have had plenty of confirmation in my life that he is exists, that I can talk with him and be heard, that I can pray to him and be answered.

God is powerful and personal. And I don't have to have “blind faith” in him, just faith —

Heb 11:6 : But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.