I’m trying my hardest to think back, back to my toddler years, trying to remember some of my first thoughts, my first memories. You know, I’ve always believed that God was the ruler of the universe. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know that God was up there, creator of all things, seer of all we do, knower of what comes next.

I’ve been thinking about that lately and I think I might be one of the few that has never really questioned whether God was real. I’ve always chosen to believe he is. When I think about other people having to come to that conclusion later in life that kinda seems hard and lonely and super confusing.

I was blessed to grow up in a household that taught me about God from an early age. I have such joyous memories of Sunday School and my Grandpa leading children’s morning song service. Sundays were fun. I enjoyed hanging out with family and eating together after service.

As I look back on this, I’m beginning to think we were an exception to U.S. households back in the early 90’s. I don’t really remember any of my friends spending as much time at church or with family as mine did. We always had aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents at our house, even when I had friends over.

When I went and played at my friend’s houses however, it was usually just them and their parents. And I don’t remember many of my friends doing any church things, or even praying at meals when I was over for dinner at their houses. But at our house, we prayed every single time. It might have been a short “God is good, God is great, thank you for this meal” prayer, but we always prayed. 

I’ve prayed almost every night before bed from the time I was little. My mom taught me. Even when I was in my rebellious stage, I would pray. God has always been in my life. I can’t imagine not believing he is God of the universe because who else would be? It’s not a tangible thought my mind can process. But I know there are those that are struggling right now to grasp the concept that God is real. 

They might wonder, what kind of God would let horrible things happen in our world, what kind of God would allow children to get incurable diseases, what kind of God would create a world where all we do is work all day long just to pay bills? Yes, these are legitimate questions, but let me ask you to consider something else. 

What kind of God would create a planet where everything is ordered so intricately that there is living breathing life here. No other place is like our home here on earth. Or what kind of God would make your body function as it does so that it can literally heal itself, even when we try to destroy it over and over again with bad food or drugs.  What kind of God would give you free will to choose to do and follow whatever you wanted to. Yes, he wants you to choose him, because he loves you so much, but he won’t force you like a slave. What kind of God loves you so much that he would send his son to die for your past, present, and future sins? No one is forcing us to behave badly, but we do it anyway. For this we deserve punishment and the punishment for sin is death, but God loves us so much that he provided a way out of death. What kind of God would do that? What kind of God would let you come to him with your needs at any second of the day. And actually listen to you? We can’t even get our government to listen to us. But God hears our every cry. 

God is good. It’s us that are bad. We create wars, we create disease, we create work and bills. But God sees our struggles. He wants to help us. He wants to bless us and love us. Why wouldn’t you want to believe that? Why would you choose to go through life alone? I’m not trying to sound obtuse, it’s just that I grew up knowing God is real. Like I said, I can’t fathom it any other way.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is [whole] toward him.

2 Chronicles 16:9 ESV

I was reading my Bible this morning and came across a passage from 2 Chronicles. It says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is [whole] toward him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 ESV. I really like this passage. It is a simple picture of how God sees everything, even the bad things, and through every misstep, through every situation where enemies come against us, His strong support is there for us. This is amazing to me, that even through my hardest battles and gut-wrenching heartache, God is for me, supporting me. Don’t you want someone like that in your corner? Someone who can see how every decision you make or someone else makes can affect your life and he will be there for you through it all? I do. 

But I understand that some people aren’t there yet. And they have big questions about God and the Bible and why they should believe. These are legitimate questions. I am no great theologian, but I do have some recommendations to check out if you are curious about God.

1. First off, the Bible. It makes little sense to me when someone has questions about God but aren’t willing to read the Bible. If I wanted to know about how to cook a cake, at the very least I would open a cookbook right? The Bible is an epic adventure of thrilling stories. Pastors recommend starting with the Gospels-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I like to read the Bible chronologically because it reads more like a historic account and the stories feel so adventurous. 
2. Second, we read  Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace in one of our Bible study classes and it is a great resource for the questions you may have about Jesus and providing proof of his life. 
3. Third, our Youth Pastor, Jess Robinson, just started a podcast called Rural Faith & Apologetics. You can find it on spotify and apple podcasts. Her explanations on faith questions are top notch and easy to understand. I would definitely recommend giving her a listen.
4. Finally, Pray. If you are truly curious about God and have questions about his legitimacy, ask him. You’ll be surprised at the ways he answers.

These are just a couple of recommendations for anyone that has a hard time believing that there is a God out there. And of course I would recommend speaking with a Pastor. But these are just a few resources I’ve come across and have appreciated in my Kingdom Journey. I hope that if you are struggling with the concept of God that you realize it is a nudge to look deeper into the questions you have. And if you’re ever my way and want to talk, I would love that. More than anything I want you to know that you don’t have to make your way through this life by yourself. Turn to God. He wants to be there for you. He loves you.

 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Matthew 16:26