As I was listening to the radio on my way home today I heard the song "God's Not Dead (Roaring Like a Lion)" by the Newsboys. The song reminded me of two things.
The first was that I recently heard that one of the founders of the Newsboys has come out and said that he is an atheist. He had left the band in 1990 and professed atheism in 2007, so this is not flashy news by any means, but still...
The second was the movie "God's Not Dead", which featured this song at the end of the film, along with the band backstage. I was reminded of some of the atheist friends I have who disbelieve that God is real or could be real.
And I realized that I, too, feel like God is not real sometimes.
In fact, usually I feel this way.
It is the rare instances in which I feel like God is real, that He is present, or that He is speaking to me.
But I don't think that this is because God isn't real, that He isn't present, or that He isn't speaking to me. I think it's because I get distracted by living my life the way I care to or by crowding out the voice of the Holy Spirit with my own soundtrack to daily living. I don't take the time I need to to meditate and seek out God's voice. And therefore I miss that feeling that God is real.
Don't get me wrong--I don't doubt that God is real, because I have felt His presence before. I have seen Him move in miraculous ways through my friend's lives, through healing, and through impossible situations that have turned out for the best. I have seen God intervene in my own life. I've felt Him guide me and direct me as I have sought Him in the past. And I did my best to memorize how those moments felt so that I can revisit them as affirmation when I am wandering away from His presence.
Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is deceitful above all. And yet so often we implore each other to "follow your heart," "what do you feel like your heart is saying?" or "how do you feel about that answer?"
We fall into this rut of listening to our hearts to be the soundest advice we can get, when the truth is that the heart can be the most deceitful counsel we can seek. Just because I don't feel like the Reds will win the playoffs doesn't mean they won't. Just because I don't feel like I love Katie anymore doesn't mean I should leave her and my children to pursue that elsewhere (hypothetically). Just because I feel like God isn't real doesn't mean He isn't.
Indeed, I'm afraid that God-followers have been susceptible to this wayward feeling for centuries upon centuries. A quick glance through the Old Testament shows several accounts where the Israelites gave up on God just weeks after witnessing some miraculous event (see Exodus 32 for a prime-rib example). The people saw God move, they felt His presence, they were terrified by His existence, and yet...when they woke up the next day (or days) they forgot all about the experience.
This is why there are 9 accounts in the Bible where God commands for someone to write something down. He is saying: don't forget about this!
We humans are so fickle that we move on from a life-changing event within a few short days/weeks/or years just because it isn't in our face anymore.
We need to write things down so that when we don't feel a certain way anymore, we can remember the truth! So take up journaling, blogging, or note-taking. Write down the mountain-top experiences so that when you venture through the valley, you will have something to bring you hope and joy of the better days to come.
The first was that I recently heard that one of the founders of the Newsboys has come out and said that he is an atheist. He had left the band in 1990 and professed atheism in 2007, so this is not flashy news by any means, but still...
The second was the movie "God's Not Dead", which featured this song at the end of the film, along with the band backstage. I was reminded of some of the atheist friends I have who disbelieve that God is real or could be real.
And I realized that I, too, feel like God is not real sometimes.
In fact, usually I feel this way.
It is the rare instances in which I feel like God is real, that He is present, or that He is speaking to me.
But I don't think that this is because God isn't real, that He isn't present, or that He isn't speaking to me. I think it's because I get distracted by living my life the way I care to or by crowding out the voice of the Holy Spirit with my own soundtrack to daily living. I don't take the time I need to to meditate and seek out God's voice. And therefore I miss that feeling that God is real.
Don't get me wrong--I don't doubt that God is real, because I have felt His presence before. I have seen Him move in miraculous ways through my friend's lives, through healing, and through impossible situations that have turned out for the best. I have seen God intervene in my own life. I've felt Him guide me and direct me as I have sought Him in the past. And I did my best to memorize how those moments felt so that I can revisit them as affirmation when I am wandering away from His presence.
Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is deceitful above all. And yet so often we implore each other to "follow your heart," "what do you feel like your heart is saying?" or "how do you feel about that answer?"
We fall into this rut of listening to our hearts to be the soundest advice we can get, when the truth is that the heart can be the most deceitful counsel we can seek. Just because I don't feel like the Reds will win the playoffs doesn't mean they won't. Just because I don't feel like I love Katie anymore doesn't mean I should leave her and my children to pursue that elsewhere (hypothetically). Just because I feel like God isn't real doesn't mean He isn't.
Indeed, I'm afraid that God-followers have been susceptible to this wayward feeling for centuries upon centuries. A quick glance through the Old Testament shows several accounts where the Israelites gave up on God just weeks after witnessing some miraculous event (see Exodus 32 for a prime-rib example). The people saw God move, they felt His presence, they were terrified by His existence, and yet...when they woke up the next day (or days) they forgot all about the experience.
This is why there are 9 accounts in the Bible where God commands for someone to write something down. He is saying: don't forget about this!
We humans are so fickle that we move on from a life-changing event within a few short days/weeks/or years just because it isn't in our face anymore.
We need to write things down so that when we don't feel a certain way anymore, we can remember the truth! So take up journaling, blogging, or note-taking. Write down the mountain-top experiences so that when you venture through the valley, you will have something to bring you hope and joy of the better days to come.
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