Certainty - Dwelling Spaces

Saturday 27 February 2016

Certainty


Humans seem to be hard-wired to want things to be certain. When I was thinking about becoming a Christian 16 years ago, the thing I most wanted (as a scientist) was proof that God existed. To be honest, at times not much has changed! There are times when we desparately want God to prove that God is there, by healing our friend or stopping a war, or making it sunny for our party! It feels hard to live without that certainty. 

But the point is the God is not some truth that we can possess. We are designed and created to be in relationship with God, and relationship (this side of heaven) simply does involve a degree of not knowing (1 Corinthians 13.12). To become more certain about a matter of faith we have to try trusting that it is true. Having been on that journey for 16 years I am more certain now than I have ever been that God is who the Bible says God is. In fact, more loving, gracious, faithful, merciful and forgiving than I could imagine. And because God knows me inside out (and often better than I think I know myself), I don't have to try and keep my bad bits covered like I do in most other relationships. I know God loves me and wants me to change to live in a healthier, more fruitful and life-giving way. And that's a good thing to become more certain about!

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