IN A WORLD GONE WILD, GOD IS STILL SOVEREIGN

I get frustrated when I read or hear disparaging things said about God in the popular media. My frustration comes from reading or hearing things said by people who have no idea who God is; by people who declare themselves atheist or agnostic, or intellectual, and some who even call themselves Christian, but who wear their Christianity like an accessory to be taken off when it doesn’t suit the occasion. 

There is an old saying that’s appropriate: “You never really know a person until you are married to them.” This statement holds a lot of truth. Until you are in a committed relationship with someone - -  married to them - -  spend time with them, learn their ways, see their hearts in action, experience good times and bad times with them, you never really know that person. 

And then it might be said that you can never really know all there is to know about another person, even when you are married to them. 

So it is with God. We will never know everything there is to know about God, until He returns and reveals Himself to us. However, the more time we spend with God, the more we learn about Him, the more our relationship with Him deepens. Like folks who have been married for a while, as we spend more time with God we grow to be more like Him. We learn His tender ways, we speak softer, we grow in wisdom and understanding, we learn the benefit of forgiveness and we gain peace.

So, my question is, how can an atheist be sure that God doesn’t exist if He doesn’t know God, and if he has never spent any time with Him? 

Many adults who call themselves atheist, even agnostic, grew up in church. As children, they had religion preached at them by Christians who practiced hypocrisy and deceitfulness. (It happens.) Some people are understandably intolerant of Christianity because their trust was broken by someone in church leadership. (Despicable, but true.) Still others never recovered from the free living of their college days, when they could do and say whatever they pleased, away from the restrictions of parental authority and the judgment of good Christian mentors.(Free will doesn't always lead to freedom.)

Some non-believing adults are simply jaded by all of the bad things that have happened to them in their life, or bad things that have happened to people they love. 

It’s hard enough for a Christian to have faith in a world torn apart by hate. Life without faith seems an unnecessary hardship to endure.

Chapter 12 of the Book of Job reminds us that in a world gone wild God is still sovereign: 

My friends laugh at me, for I call on God and expect an answer (v.4). They are confounded by my faith. It seems contradictory to them that a person could be sane and believe in God at the same time. They talk badly about God and they seem to get away with it. They prosper in their disbelief and sinful living. They are absolutely convinced that everything good they have ever achieved in their lives has been by their own wit and will. Yet, any suffering they've experienced they readily attribute to God’s lack of power or non-existence. They forget that God keeps them in his power (v.6). Sometimes I forget too. I see unfairness and disparity around me and I can’t make sense of it. Why do greedy people always win while poor people lose out? Why do some people take more than they need while others never have enough? The life of every living thing is in his hand. So is the breath of every human being (v.10). Why is it that people who hate always get so much attention? Their words get amplified around the world, while anyone who has anything nice to say gets ridiculed and put down? Deceivers and deceived are both in his power (v.16). Am I crazy for believing in God? Is it worth the energy to swim against the current of popularity? Is this lunacy how we are meant to live? Is this madness all there is to look forward to in life? He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness; he brings light to the deepest gloom (v.22). When will justice be granted to those who have suffered in faith? Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old. But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his (v.13). (Bible quotes from NLT)