Have you stopped believing in God? Maybe you quit when he did not hear your prayers. That is what I hear sometimes. It happens after marriages break up, or businesses fail, or children die. It is what people think when life seems so unfair. Or when the hurt and pain seem too much to endure. And you prayed. You begged God for relief. You asked him for a different outcome. And he did not hear you. At least that is what it felt like to you.

So why are you reading this? Maybe deep down you wish you could believe. Perhaps you are hoping someone somewhere can provide the answers you so desperately want and need. But it is hard to see God through the pain. So you blame God, resent God, even hate God. But there is still that part of you that wishes He was true. You long to believe there is someone bigger than yourself; someone who can make sense of this broken world.

I do not have any easy answers. But I can tell you that you are not alone. I can tell you that those of us who still believe have to wrestle with why things do not happen the way we ask. And I can share with you some ideas that have helped us keep clinging to our faith in God.

1. We cannot understand God. Trying to explain God is a futile exercise for any of us. He is the Creator, we are the creation. Even were God to explain things to me, I would not understand. Which comforts me in an odd way. I have to believe that God understands what is unfathomable to me.

2. God knows best. He acts, he allows, he prevents, he causes, he does act. And all of these are for the good of his kingdom. He knows what is best. And if he does not, if all the pain in this world is random and pointless… then can anyone face life with any sense of peace or purpose?

3. It will all be better someday. That is one reason we Christians keep believing. A better life waits for us after this world. That is the hope we have.

I choose to believe anyway.
I cannot tell you why God answers us the way he does. But I do believe he loves us, does what is best, and is preparing us for a better life that never ends.

So do not quit believing in God. Cling to your faith. And let’s talk about it. Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org. Or visit our website at www.hopeforlife.org.