Exodus 3:14: Yes, He Is.

“I’m struggling to believe that God exists. I am surrounded by a lot of people who just don’t believe. It seems like more and more people don’t believe. I’ve never struggled with God before – at least not with his existence.  Maybe his choices for my life, but not his existence. It scares me. Part of me wants to turn my back on him. I’m tired. Despondent? I don’t even want to ask for prayer. I feel like I’m holding him an arm length away.  What is wrong with me? I don’t even know how to ask for help because I don’t know what this is.  I am trying to look vertical, but I’m struggling to care.  A big part of me doesn’t.”

These words came from a friend who has been in the thick of some grueling ordeals on multiple fronts as of late. It’s as though the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion hit critical mass and flipped a circuit breaker:  Enough! I don’t care. I can’t care. It hurts too much. When the breaker tripped, it numbed her up with the anesthetic of apathy – not just toward life, but also toward God who seems absent, indifferent…maybe even nonexistent?  “Why do You stand afar off, O, Lord?” the psalmist exploded in anguish. “Why do you hide Yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1) “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:3) Where are you? Why haven’t you shown up? Don’t you care? Do you not have the ability to fix this? Have you abandoned me?  Are you even real?

In the throes of suffering, our faith can be tested, stretched, challenged to the extreme. The heat of the crucible pushes us to our limits.  Yet, it’s that very heat that makes us pliable enough to be molded – molten enough for the refiner to produce something of great value within us (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; Hebrews 12:4-11; Malachi 3:3)  In times of testing, God’s ‘silence’ or perceived lack of action is not somehow evidence of His non-existence. When we find ourselves doubting, it’s not because God has given us reason to doubt. No, something else is going on here – something rooted in our pain, anger, disillusionment, willfulness, confusion, fear, impatience, shame, obstinance, immaturity, spiritual malnourishment, bondage, pride, or something else doing battle within us. To infer that there is no God because He doesn’t respond or intervene in the way we might desire is a logical fallacy – a non sequitur along the lines of saying, “My keys aren’t on the counter. Therefore, my car doesn’t exist.”  We need to put that notion to bed so we can get to the
actual heart of the problem.  It’s far more productive to cry out to Jesus as a distraught father did at the base of a mountain more than 2,000 years ago: “I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

The reality is that the existence of God isn’t even genuinely debatable “because that which is known about God is evident…for God made it evident…For since the creation of the world His divine attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20; Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-5; Job 12:7-9). In other words, atheism is indefensible – baseless – because the Creator has left His fingerprints all over His creation. The only way to deny the existence of God is to “suppress the truth” that has been made abundantly clear to us. “The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 10:4; Psalm 14:1a).  “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1: 21-22).  If we grasp this foundational fact, then when hard times come, we can authentically and constructively wrestle with, learn from, and lean on the Living God instead of squandering precious opportunities to receive His “very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1-3; Psalm 13; Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 25:4-5; Proverbs 18:10).

At a minimum, all we have to do is look up: “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they [the skies, the universe] continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world” (Psalm 19:1-4a). Their proclamation?  God is!  Not convinced?  Dig deeper until you are.  There are whole ministries with PhD scientists dedicated to researching and sharing the astonishing complexities and marvelous wonders of God’s design in creation; refuting the “worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge;” and demonstrating how the truths in God’s Word are borne out impeccably in what we observe in the world (1 Timothy 6:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; e.g., Answers in Genesis, Institute for Creation Research).

We can’t afford to be ignorant. There is a cosmic battle raging (Revelation 12:7-9; 2 Kings 6:15-17; Daniel 10:10-13). The most formidable and insidious black ops mission ever devised has infiltrated every corner of our world: Our governments. Our cultures. Our media. Our schools. Our places of worship. Hiding in plain sight, this scam of epic proportions weaves its toxic tendrils through the framework of daily life, manipulating our perspectives and commanding our course (1 John 5:19). Its mastermind is an impostor, a liar, a murderer (John 8:44; Matthew 13:36-43; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10).  This massive scheme of deception stupefies its victims, gains a foothold, and strikes with savage force. It morphs, mutates, and mimics; entices, blinds, and destroys – all the while deploying shrewd countermeasures to evade detection (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The “ruler of this world” operates through the systems of this world (John 12:31; Luke 4:5-6; 1 John 4:1,5). God’s children are not immune to its poison (John 17:15).

The “prince of the power of the air” stealthily plants seeds of deception in the fertile soil of our depraved flesh which already screams autonomy and rebellion (Ephesians 2:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9). He is an expert on ‘spin.’ His aim is to muddy the waters and disorient us.  Throw in some suffering, and his tactics have the potential to do some serious damage (Luke 4:13; Luke 22:31-34, 54-62). Lies displace the truth. Doubt creeps in. If left unchecked, it gives birth to detachment, indifference, defiance…and apostasy.  “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?” Who cut in on you and tripped you up? “This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you” (Galatians 5:7-8).  No, it comes from the evil one. Take heed! Be alert!  “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

The devil and his network of demons know without a shadow of a doubt that God exists.  In fact, they “tremble” in terror (James 2:19; Mark 1:23-28; Mark 5:1-14).  satan is no atheist.  But he would love for us to be. He relishes the thought of mankind mocking, cursing, and denying Almighty God  (Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-10). Most of the world is held in bondage under the devil’s dominion (Matthew 7:13-14; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Acts 26:18). Largely incognizant, they are puppets of the enemy – and the one pulling the strings most certainly does not love their soul. He’s using them for his purposes until he’s done with them and they’re cast into the Lake of Fire along with him (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10-15). He has nothing to lose and much satisfaction to gain by deceiving mankind (Revelation 12:12).

But the adversary is a finite created being whose power is subject to and constrained by the Most High God. Believers in Jesus need not fear because God has “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14). “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The tempter and his operatives can’t pry God’s children out of His hand, but they can take pot shots at us to take us out of commission (John 10:22-30; John 6:37-40; Ephesians 4:27; Matthew 4:3a). Our salvation message is one the enemy doesn’t want the world to hear (2 Corinthians 4:4). God’s light is something he doesn’t want our lives to bear (Matthew 5:14-16; John 3:19-21).  Our worship is something he wants for himself (Isaiah 14:12-14; Matthew 4:9-11). He is a defeated foe, but his venom remains potent (Colossians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 10:12-13; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57; John 16:33). Take our eyes off the ball, and the adversary is bound to score. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8; Matthew 10:16; Ephesians 4:14; Romans 12:2; 3 John 1:11a).  God has supplied us with defensive armor, along with a powerful weapon – His Word – that effectually exposes, thwarts, and crushes the enemy’s ambushes…provided we use it (Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; James 4:7; Isaiah 8:10; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

God’s thoughts and ways are soooo much higher than our own that we mortals are guaranteed to be perplexed more often than not about what He’s doing, ordaining, allowing, and accomplishing – especially when life hurts (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:33-36; Isaiah 40:13-14; Romans 9:20). We can be angry, give Him the silent treatment, stop up our ears, kick at the goads, or play the prodigal (none of which is recommended).  But let’s not go through the charade of questioning His existence.  We know better than that. In the depth of mankind’s hearts, we all perceive the mighty works of “I AM WHO I AM” – Yahweh – the all-powerful, infinitely wise Creator of heaven and earth; the self-existent One who holds all of creation together; the Alpha and the Omega who always was, who is now, and who will always be (Exodus 3:14; Psalm 93; Colossians 1:16-17; Revelation 1:8). He is the One “who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span [thumb to pinkie], and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales. Lift up your eyes on high and see Who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name” (Isaiah 40:12, 26; Job 38:1-42:6).  “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers…what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4; Job 14:1-2; Luke 12:6-7; Romans 8:28-39; Psalm 23)  And yet He does care. Fiercely. Even when, from our profoundly inadequate human perspective, He seems silent and aloof. Let Psalm 103 cement that truth in your heart.

Yes, God is. (Exodus 3:14)

…and in His great mercy and compassion, He holds out His nail-scarred hands, invites us into His arms, and exhorts us to anchor to Him when our ground shakes, our mind reels, our soul bleeds, and our world falls apart (Matthew 11:28-30).