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Questions About Life and God
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By EveryStudent.com
We all want meaning – something deeper, more lasting than what daily life tends to offer.
Think of the moments in your life where you were deeply satisfied. Was it a relationship, or in nature, or an accomplishment? You thought, “This is what life is all about.”
If only that had some lasting power. But then life moves on.
We try to create additional moments, repeat the experience or find new experiences that deliver what our souls seem to crave. Is there anything that always remains? Steady? Constantly there?
What about faith? For many, it is that bedrock, that stability that remains.
Many agnostics would rather not give time or attention to considering the possibility of God. Such a search could have unwanted consequences, challenge my current, comfortable lifestyle. Be disruptive. Better to leave it alone.
Yet life has a way of bringing the concept of faith and God back to the forefront.
It might be through a person you meet whose life you admire, who also talks about God. The question of faith might surface out of a nagging emptiness of purpose. Or the unsettling possibility that you are completely on your own, which at times feels less freeing than it once did. Now you are more aware of the perils, the demands on you to be the sole source of … well, everything.
Agnosticism has a way of fraying at the edges.
It’s not reliable. The possibility of God being real keeps emerging, even if subtly. There are times you might think, “It would be nice if a loving God actually existed. One who knows me, cares about me, is willing for me to rely on him for direction, for help, for depth to my life.”
Some advocate religious practices as the solution. An approach of “fake it till you make it.” It’s the idea that rituals, worship, prayer will be like dunking a sponge in water, and whatever is really “there” gets absorbed into our being.
Perhaps that works for some, but does it live up to everyday problems and pressures? What does it offer on a Monday afternoon in the pressure of work or relationships or real problems that weigh on you?
It can be a medicative escape, a time of calm that strengthens you to some degree. But is it much different than a walk through the beauty of a forest or sitting beside a quiet lake? Do these religious practices actually move you into a lasting encounter with God? Perhaps.
Agnostics struggle with the concept of God because they know one cannot wholeheartedly move toward something that intellectually they doubt is there. It feels foolish to play such games.
Is there any solution?
Is there any real way to connect with deity, to be sure of the reality of a higher power?
Over the years, science has not negated God as much as it has illumined him. Many years ago, people attributed lightning storms to the powers of the gods. Science has now explained the atmospheric causes of lightning. Yet, has that more informed knowledge erased the awe that we feel when watching?
We now know that our Milky Way Galaxy contains 100 billion stars and is one of perhaps two million galaxies in our universe. Does that science lessen our amazement that our Earth is perfectly distanced from the sun? And that our immense oceans meet boundaries to our shores, perfectly managed by our moon?
Our environment, apart from human destruction, contains the exact air, water, nutrients needed to sustain life. Some want to argue the chicken or the egg, saying we’re simply here because these conditions exist. However, is there not reason to wonder why we are so blessed?
When a person recognizes an amazing gift, the beauty of nature, the multitude of species of sea life, the creative diversity of plants and animals, the regenerative gaze of sunsets … it is natural to wonder did we just get lucky or have we been provided for?
Going further, what if the existence of God can not only be deduced intellectually, based on evidence surrounding us, but what if God is willing to be known on a personal level? Not elusive.
What if God has much more to offer us than nature?
Perhaps God never meant for us to go through this life alone, but in close connection to him, aware of his love. Perhaps he even discloses in concrete words what he is like, how he sees life, directing us toward greater fulfillment, greater emotional and intellectual resources, once we know him.
A person does not need to trade their brain for their heart. God has provided compelling facts and reason to intelligently conclude faith in him is legitimate, even obvious. He also meets the deepest yearnings of our soul as nothing else can.
How does one arrive at faith in God?
In this, God is also involved. God longs for you to know him, to experience the life he fully has designed for you.
God offers this promise of success: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD…”1
If that gives you a sense of hope, it should. God wants you to know him.
There are many articles and videos on EveryStudent.com that can be useful in your search, that can lead you into a relationship with God.
The most helpful to offer you likely is a free, 7-part series that is delivered every two days by email. It’s called the Spiritual Adventure Pack.
When you sign up, this is the only thing you will receive. Nothing else. You’re not put on a mailing list and your email is not shared. Ever.
Also, there will be an unsubscribe link at the end of each email, should you want to discontinue before receiving all seven.2
Many atheists and agnostics have found the Spiritual Adventure Pack helpful, rewarding. It addresses the logic of faith, what faith is and isn’t, the scientific and historical reasons to believe in God, reasons against God’s existence, and how to begin a relationship with God.
Doesn’t it make sense to allow yourself to explore if such a basic human longing for faith can be intellectually satisfied?
Here it is: Reasons to Believe: The Spiritual Adventure Pack.
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Footnotes: (1) Jeremiah 29:13,14 (2) You can also go through the Spiritual Adventure Pack on our app: Every Student. You’ll see the app’s icon is an orange globe. The series is in the first section, God’s Existence.
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