In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  – Genesis 1:1

Your belief about the first verse of the Bible determines so much about you.  Either God created all of this, someone, or something else created all of this, or it all came together by random chance.  I remember wrestling with it all in a biology class at Clemson University.  The professor did a pretty good job of dismantling any faith that any student had.  He made you feel almost silly for holding on to any beliefs about God.  It was a rough time for me and my faith.  I’m beyond thankful for men like Jimmy Boggs, Don Vaughn, and Ronnie Hodge for placing my feet on a firm foundation.

When witnessing to others, you are going to encounter someone who sincerely doubts the existence of God.  Before you read on, what do you tell people?  What would you tell someone who came to you with the honest question, “How can I know for sure that God exists?”

The quick and easy response comes from Romans 1:20: “being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” I liked when someone pointed out to me that there is so much order to this world that, at the very least, someone, or some force was behind its creation.  If we saw a beautiful painting and asked who the painter was, imagine our response when someone told us, “Nobody, a paint factory just exploded, and this was found in the rubble.” 

The second response I use is experience.  When I was in college, that professor had a lot of life experience.  He had learned to create good and solid arguments.  I was a 19-year-old idiot who didn’t have a clue about life and was so foolish and selfish that I simply wasn’t able to see God’s provision and protection in my life up to that point . . . much less articulate it.  I believed in His existence, but I didn’t know Him.  Truth be told, I wasn’t trying to get to know Him.  Sitting here 30 years later with several trips through the Bible under my belt, hours of prayer, and having Him come through for me more times than I can count . . . you couldn’t convince me that He doesn’t exist.  I know Him, I love Him, and I am so thankful that I’m His.  Always remember, a young believer in the faith doesn’t have this.  It takes time for the acorn to become a mighty oak.

I was pressed recently on the issue.  The person said, “Look, I want you to think about this: if you were presented with absolute 100% truth that God didn’t exist, I want to know what you’d do!”  I was really reaching for a response when it hit me: “Well, assuming the Bible still existed, I wouldn’t do anything different.”  I got to tell the person that learning the things that the Bible teaches has done nothing but bless my life.  If not for the Word of God, I would have died in a car accident when I was in my 20’s.  If not for the Word of God, I wouldn’t have my wife, I wouldn’t have my kids, and I wouldn’t be a math teacher.  Every good thing in my life is rooted in some sort of obedience to God that I didn’t want to do at the time.  I did it anyways simply because I called Him the Lord of my life.

He either is . . . or He isn’t.

Lord, please help this world come to faith in You.  Send the greatest revival this world has ever seen.  Let us who trust in You see countless people truly put their trust in Your Son, Jesus Christ.  I can only imagine how Noah felt when You closed the door to the ark, and it started to rain.  How awful to hear the screams of the people on the outside who wish they had listened.  Help me take as many as I can with me to heaven, for one day the opportunity to turn to You will cease.  Many think they will deal with death after it happens, but NO, we must deal with it while we have breath in our lungs here on earth.  Please, Lord, send revival . . . let it start in the church with the people who claim to be Yours.  Let it start with me.  Amen.