Ever think some events happen for a reason? Several months ago, maybe a year ago, I came across someone through social media who challenged my belief in God and the Bible. Having read the Bible for the first time a year ago, I’m obviously not a biblical scholar, but I knew of resources with scripture that could “prove” the Bible is truth, outside simple logic (from understanding the purpose of the Bible). That person believed the Bible was created for manipulating and controlling a population (which doesn’t make sense because if that was the purpose, then there wouldn’t have been killings of Believers in the Bible). This person rejected what I sent because the person wasn’t open to exploring and understanding the Bible (being spiritually blind is talked about in the Bible), but their mind was so strongly convinced of this mis-information, it puzzled me. Their belief was SO strong against the Bible, it didn’t make sense to continue the conversation for very long, Faith is a choice: believe or don’t believe, but there are consequences for either choice.
From the Church to Atheism
It turned out this person had multiple negative experiences in their church, so they left the church and things weren’t going well in their life, but since they left the church they said “life is so much easier.” (This makes sense too when you understand spiritual warfare). When I first came across this person, they were promoting atheism after formerly being in some kind of a church. Finding that out was very sad to me because I know the truth found in the Bible (and if they would only consider it, it would BENEFIT them), but they had so much resistance due to their experience, they weren’t open to even viewing those resources. They didn’t believe what was written in the Bible. I see that with many people lately: strong resistance to biblical information and truth. (Is this part of spiritual warfare?)
Lack of Trust
The unfortunate reason many give is “a church experience” which I completely understand, having had that experience myself. Most often the reason given involves lack of trust. Lack of trust is what holds people back from numerous experiences in life, for good reasons too: based on experiences, but it’s not good when it holds people back from something GOOD. That needs to change. This is one of the reasons why I believe it is so important to read the bible individually. Each of us needs to know what’s in the bible so that we are not misled by anyone distorting the information in the Bible. Reading the Bible isn’t a quick read, so if you hear someone say something, look it up, read the entire chapter or the book if necessary so it’s not taken out of context, that way you’ll eventually get through some of the Bible, a little at a time. A little is better than none.
Christians
Christians also turn people away if there is a negative interaction. I’ve seen this first hand from both sides too! Meaning I’ve been just as bad as a Christian of not having a good interaction with those closest to me. So I’d like to explain what happened in my experiences. BEING PURSUED: A person who has never read the Bible may not fully understand a scripture quote, so the scripture doesn’t seem relevant to that person, there is more needed context in the Bible before the quote is clearly understood. (That was my experience) Or maybe the person simply has no interest because they don’t understand the Bible’s purpose, so they are not ready to hear it? Or they are afraid there are too many rules they may need to abide by (I think this is many people) PURSUING: From a “newly” Christian’s perspective, when I found out the purpose of the Bible, I especially wanted to tell those closest to me, and I felt an urgency too. I’ve finally realized I have this internal drive to “protect” people. Most ‘person to person” contact about Christianity isn’t from a selfish, self-serving or self-centered motivation, it is because the person truly cares about the other person, but needs to learn a more successful way of communicating.
Depression/Anxiety
This is something I haven’t seen very often mentioned, but something people should know. Depression, anxiety or sadness can bring us to God, but it can also separate us from God. Often when we seek God, it’s a response to something bad that’s happened in our lives. We look to God to “fix it” for us, as the last resource. In reality, God should be our first resource, but initially He is often the last resource in a time of hardship. Reaching out to God (through prayer) is the best solution because He certainly has the ability to “fix” it for us. But we have to remember: He’s not a “vending machine” or a “genie” there to “grant our wishes” either. He wants a relationship with us first and foremost. Think about how we feel when someone just wants to take from us but never wants to give, it makes sense when looking at it from that perspective, doesn’t it? Depression/Anxiety/Sadness can also separate us from God if we are angry with everyone and God. Identifying the underlying source of the anxiety is the most important part in dealing with it. (see image)
Based on my personal experience, I thought if I simply surrendered to God everything would get better, but it didn’t, it started getting worse. I didn’t consider, or know about, the underlying sources of anxiety when it happened unfortunately or I could have dealt with it much more quickly. Little by little parts of this information was revealed as I was studying/reading the Bible. Ironically, my first start to reading the Bible, I opened the Bible to a random page and decided I would start there. It was the book of Job- and it explained a little bit about the spiritual warfare. What better time is it for something evil to “hit” a person then when the person is first surrendering to Jesus, right? That could easily turn a person away from God. The book of Job is good in understanding this because it showed these bad things can be a “test” of faith. Also the Bible often tells us there is a battle for our minds, so negative thoughts, fears, anger, sin, depression can be present to try to separate us from God. Please understand this so if it happens to you reject those “attacks” and pray to God to overcome them.
The Truth
Each of us was created by God, out of love. No person is accidently created; God is the Giver of Life and intentional in giving life to a person. God wants us to seek Him and communicate with Him through prayers, building a relationship. Once we have a relationship with God, He also wants us to help others. God has a purpose for each person He creates, each of us is valuable to God, it may take us awhile to figure out our purpose, but that’s just part of the growth process. The Bible is a resource, a guidebook for life, with the “secret” to eternal life for those who read it and take action. Eternity is not just about life, it can also be eternal pain, if we don’t choose to have a relationship with God. The Bible reveals some aspects of the spiritual realm. It contains thousands of prophecies that happened already, but also has prophecies regarding the future. A “Believer” is more than someone who simply believes Jesus, the Son of God existed, died for us, rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven after His physical death so that we could have eternal life with God. “Believer” means someone who understands that and out of immense gratitude decides to live in a godly way, choosing Jesus as the role model of how to live. The Bible is a resource showing us how Jesus lived and what He taught. The Bible is wisdom and essential for every single person.
S.A.I.L. 