Complete the question "God is…."

Browsing Facebook, I stumbled upon a Post that asked, "Complete this sentence  - God is…."

 This is the type of Facebook Post that garners over 100 responses within 15-minutes or less.  And this Post was no exception.  For example, responses looked like this:

        Alisa – My provider

      Joyce – The strength of my life

      Anthony – Good

       Rene – My all and all

      Griff – Love

     Harriett - Forgiving

     Anita – Good to me

You cannot disagree with any of those responses.  But can those declarations of what God is also describe how you can and should feel about yourself?  Shouldn’t we love ourselves the way we feel we know and love God?  I feel that the “God is…” question is a question with enormous amount of answers but none can be considered certain or concrete or definitive.  

The author of Hebrews defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen.” 

If someone comments about wanting to find a mate, more than likely one of the comments will be: “God will bring you love, just be patient.”  If someone shares that they are in the hospital and that the outlook looks grim, the comment most likely will be, “Only God can tell you that your outlook is grim.  Pray to God.”  Words of comfort? Perhaps.  Undeniable confidence and belief in God?  Seems very apparent.   But how does someone achieve this deep-rooted belief in God even after experiencing physical pain, inner turmoil, life’s ups and downs, death, etc.  The Trust is unwavering.  Believers will say, He will do what He says He is going to do!  No doubt.  No argument.  

In Matthew 17:20 Jesus tells the disciples “For truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Hmmm.. that sounds like truly blind faith. 

So, then if you're a non-believer in God, maybe you are an Atheist.  What is Atheism?  American Atheist says “To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.”  Some who don’t want to identify as Atheist, will say they are Agnostic, or a free-thinker, or secular, terms that they feel would be easily understood.  But it all means the same thing “Atheism.”  I believe that many self-identified Atheist lives with the stigma associated with atheism and become closeted Atheists and abstain from outing themselves.

You can say that Atheist and Christians appears to be on a collision course.  Both have strong beliefs in their ideology.  Both will defend their cause with a myriad of reasons.  But the person who believes in “None” will never be swayed.  None is becoming the third belief.   Most everyone has dreams and goals for their life.  Self-confidence, self-esteem and pride are important traits a person works diligently to achieve.  Can these traits be attributed to your belief in God (Christianity) or your lack of belief in God (Atheism)?  

As I researched this highly debated subject I found this: Biblical Faith: Trusting God’s Provision.  The article says: Biblical faith is not about confidence in our faith but rather it is confidence in Christ alone. When we start to place our confidence in the strength of our faith, we have lost sight of what true Biblical faith is.  The quality of your faith is not dependent upon the outcome of a particular situation nor should we evaluate the quality of our faith based on our ability to dismiss any negative thoughts (1 Corinthians 2:5).  I can’t argue with this statement.  Biblical faith is apparently the reason one can say God will heal your wounds even after a doctor tells you that your time here on earth is coming to an end. 

Can I achieve total success without a true belief in God?  Christians will say No!  Atheist certainly don’t believe that you must have a God belief in order to be successful.  

After my research, I believe God is exactly who and what you want Him to be.  Sometimes, I walk into a clothing store and a piece of garment literally speaks to me and says, “Take me home with you.”  LOL Metaphorically, of course.  The same with God, if you believe you hear his voice, then he speaks to you.  If you’re not a believer of a celestial being, then something else imaginary speaks to you.  Is it that simple?  We can never know for sure.

©2018 Radiance Smith (aka Radiance Lite)