Interlaced haphazardly with the mundane questions I grapple with each week appear some profound ones that can be quite the stumpers. An example of the potential thoughts that pass through my mind on a given day may look something like this… Do these pants make me look fat(ter than I actually am)? Did I pay that bill or did I dream that? If I were an atheist, how would I view this news story? Can I truly know the will of God for my life or am I just guessing? Why is my dog barking at the ceiling for no apparent reason? Deep stuff, I know.
The truth is, we all deal with countless ordinary issues because our lives are mostly composed of common, simple activity that requires our attention. But every now and then, important eternal matters pop up in front of us and deserve some consideration. I find that at times it’s easier to avoid tough questions than to address them when I become insulated in my own little galaxy and don’t have anyone challenge my comfortable position. I am surrounded by mostly like-minded people who all share a foundation of Judeo-Christian values and fundamental faith in God. But what about someone who may be grappling with his view of the divine and uncertain about the origins of life? Is there a place where he can go to ask an authentic question in the process of discovery or do I shut him down out of fear or ignorance?
I was just thinking about how a person might go about sincerely trying to figure out who God is, if he did not already possess a background in religious thought. Or probably more relevant to our culture, how could a person experience a personal encounter with God if he had been so saturated with a traditional religious view of Him that he had become jaded and cynical about faith in general and twenty first century evangelical Christianity in particular?
Believers often say the first step to discovering God is by reading the Bible. I highly recommend this, but someone who approaches scripture from a position of doubt and not faith may often see its contents very different than I do. So faith should come first, but this creates a troubling Catch 22 because we also say that faith develops by hearing the word of God. So what might precede faith, which could cultivate it enough until a person begins to read God’s word and thereby discover His presence? Hmmmmnnn?
I think the answer is willingness. Approaching a search for God with an authentic willingness to discover Him, should He truly exist, must come first. This sounds like a risk but there’s little to lose. If God is there, one should be happy to find Him. I have confidence that God doesn’t mind our sincere questions and even our doubts. He actually loves when we seek Him from whatever position we are on the continuum of unbelief to faith. It is we who must start by asking the question: am I willing?
