3 Reasons Why I Believe in God
I was raised in a loving, Christian home. I rebelled in college, renounced my beliefs in my twenties, and returned to faith the year I turned 30.
I wonder sometimes what I would say if someone asked me why I came back. This article is a brief and imperfect attempt to offer somewhat of an answer.
There’s one particular verse in the Bible that I’ve thought of pretty much every day since I gave my life to Christ:
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15
Another translation puts it, “If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”
“That’s just what we believe.”
If I had a nickel for every time someone said this to me in response to my questions about faith…
After a while, it started to feel like no one really knew why they believed what they believed. And over time, it became less and less clear to me why I did.
Until eventually—I didn’t.
I considered myself an atheist for about four years—completely rejecting the idea of God or a higher power. And I hated the Bible most for all the questions it never answered.
Four years may not seem like a long time, but it was long enough to basically wipe clean almost everything I had ever known, believed or even understood about God. To this day, those few years and the mindset I adopted make my Christian walk very difficult at times.
Why am I telling you this?
Because it leads into the first reason I believe in God today:
#1: Choosing to Follow Jesus (Again) Changed My Life
In 2016, my boyfriend of 3 and a half years and I decided to go our separate ways. While it was a relatively amicable split, our breakup left me feeling more lost than I’d ever been.
I was unhappy at my job—my so-called dream career in Advertising—I didn’t have many close friends, I was drinking a lot, binge-eating, not taking care of myself and making a lot of dumb decisions in my personal life.
I found myself in the deepest, darkest depression I’d ever experienced. On the nights I didn’t black out from drinking, I cried myself to sleep.
One morning, I woke up face down on my bed with my coat, shoes and purse all still on from the night before. But my purse was empty.
I attempted to locate my wallet, but I couldn’t even retrace my steps. I couldn’t remember where I went after the restaurant or how I’d gotten home.
I called my mom and confessed to her that my life, my drinking and my depression had become unmanageable.
Then, I prayed. To a God I didn’t believe in.
And He heard me.
I wish I had the time (and the word count) to share with you everything God has done in my life since that day. But here are a few highlights:
- I found a new job shortly after at a company that’s ranked as one of the best places to work in the country.
- I moved from the city to the suburbs and re-connected with my family.
- I became an Aunt and my heart grew 10 sizes bigger.
- I found a church to call home and a community full of some of the best people I’ve ever known.
- I met my now husband.
- I stopped abusing alcohol (and stopped letting alcohol abuse me).
- I overcame my eating disorder and have found a healthier, more compassionate approach to my body.
- I was promoted at work.
- And the list goes on…
Someone might say that all of this was just coincidence. Some might say it was me who pulled myself out of a bad situation and turned my life around. And some might even say that’s just the universe unfolding.
I say the universe doesn’t love me that much.
It was all God. Every last bit of it.
#2: I Can’t Ignore the Question of Our Existence
To address a possible elephant in the room: I don’t believe the story of creation in the Bible is literal.
My reasoning is a story for another article. But I will say this: I may not believe the world as we know it was created in exactly seven days, but I do believe it was created.
Maybe it was a “Big Bang.” Or colliding membranes. Or whatever new theory scientists will pose and prove in our lifetime. Contrary to popular belief, not all Christians see science as a threat to our belief system. I simply believe that whatever that OG event was, it had a cause. And I believe that cause has to be outside of time, space and matter.
In fact, there are scientists who are unhappy with the evidence that supports the Big Bang Theory because it then begs the question, “How did something come from nothing?”
“Because Big Bang cosmology establishes the universe had a beginning, Big Bang cosmology logically implies the necessity of a “Beginner” because anything that comes into existence requires a sufficient cause for doing so.”
Honestly, I just look around at our universe, our solar system, our bodies, our animals, our plant life, our weather, our EVERYTHING—and I see design, not randomness.
And the implication that we have a Creator is that we were created, and therefore our lives have intrinsic value and purpose. If we are simply here by accident and at random, I personally struggle to find meaning in life.
#3: He Asks the Least of Us, and Promises the Most
From the outside looking in, there doesn’t seem to be anything logical about believing in God. But I’d say out of all my reasons for my faith(including reasons not explored here), this is perhaps the most “logical.”
Our world is in trouble. You don’t have to be a person of faith to see that. In addition to global struggles like poverty, oppression, climate change, etc, there’s also our personal struggles: anxiety, depression, addiction, etc.
So when the book of Revelation speaks about life after this one and says:
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Revelation 21:4
…it has my attention.
There are literally thousands of promises in the Bible. Here’s just a small sampling:
2 Peter 1:4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Matthew 11:28–29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Isaiah 40:29–31
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.Philippians 4:19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:37–39 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Proverbs 1:33 But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.”
John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
On earth, God offers us peace of mind, strength, confidence, victory over our struggles, comfort in our pain and sorrow, and so much more. In the next life, He offers us the perfect world He had originally intended for us. With no pain, no sorrow, no grief.
Sure, all of that sounds amazing. But what’s the catch? What do we have to do?
That’s the best part: You don’t have to do anything.
In fact, there’s nothing you can do. Jesus already did it. He lived the perfect, sinless, blameless life we could never live.
All you have to do is believe He is who He says He is, and that He did what He said He did.
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
Okay. Then what? Don’t you have to be really good to get to heaven?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:36–40
THAT’S IT: Love God, and love others.
That’s all we’re required to do. We don’t have to reach or achieve anything through our own efforts.
Jesus basically says, “Believe in me. Follow me. Love God. Love others. And I will be with you always. And you will have eternal life.”
I simply don’t see a better offer on the table.
Okay, so maybe it sounds too good to be true. But if there was even the slightest possibility to have all of this, wouldn’t you want it? Wouldn’t you at least try it? I dunno, maybe that’s just me.
Any way. I’ll probably never be fully happy with this explanation. And I could probably write a hundred articles about all the ways I’ve seen God in my life, in the lives of others, and in the world at large.
