As believers, we would answer the question is God real; with a resounding yes. As we should, but is God real to us? How would it affect our actions if we treated God like he was living and ALWAYS with us? As Christians, we live like God isn’t completely real to us.
We would be careful about what we say, do, and watch if the realization that a holy God lives inside us took hold of our hearts. We would be able to trust him and believe his word if the knowledge that he is living and real became a revelation.
I once heard a pastor say that doubt is a form of atheism which struck me. I believe this statement is true because if we believe God is real and active, why do we doubt him? The answer is we don’t know God in the way that he has become living to us.
Biblical Example
We can find many biblical examples of this throughout the Old Testament with the Israelites. The Israelites believed in God and even saw him manifest in miraculous ways. Yet if they had a revelation, of him as living and active, they would not so easily have turned to other gods; because there is no comparison between our mighty God and a block of wood or gold.
In Exodus 32, They turned to a golden calf and gave it credit for their deliverance from Egypt a mere 40 days after seeing a manifestation of God (Exodus 24). Even after seeing his power, he was no more real to them than a golden calf.
How often have we experienced something and knew it was God? We had no doubts it was God because it was too powerful to have just happened or come from human hands. I doubt you have ever seen a literal sea parted or Manna come from heaven, but you probably have experienced miracles and deliverances that could only come from God. Yet, trusting God is still a challenge for us. We know God is all-powerful and trustworthy, so why do we struggle to trust him? The reason is that we don’t know him well enough for him to be real to us.
From Believing to Knowing
You probably have friends and family you trust completely because you have developed a relationship with them. You know them and know what they will and will not do. We may not be able to see God, but we can still develop this relationship with him. We must get from a place where we believe in God to a place where we know God. When we know him, we will recognize his voice (John 10:4) and expect him to act a certain way because he doesn’t change. Then he will become as alive to us as the people we can see.
God is a Spirit
We struggle with knowing God because we live by our senses instead of our spirits. John 4:24 states that God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. We want to relate to God on a physical level which is why we desire signs, prophecies, and physical manifestations. But that is not how we will learn to trust and know God.
We can experience a radical financial deliverance one day, and then the next week be doubting how we will pay another bill. Physical experiences can’t hold us long because God is a spirit. If the Israelites were not confident in God after seeing a sea parted in two, we wouldn’t be persuaded by any physical thing. We are not all that different than they were, except we have the benefit of the Holy Spirit, which makes a world of difference and allows us to tap into the spiritual world.
Seek Fellowship
So, the key to finding God in a real way is getting to know him, and how do we get to know him? We seek his face by studying the Bible, attending a church that feeds us, and spending time in prayer talking to him like a friend and not a vending machine.
Our relationship with God needs to be a priority over everything else. We should read our Bibles because we hunger for more of him. Spend time fellowshipping with him in prayer and worship because we long to love him. When we seek him with all our hearts, He promises we will find him.
Let’s commit today to be wholehearted in our search for knowing God. What if God was more real to us than anything else? We could walk in his love, power, joy, and strength, and nothing else in this world would truly matter.
Referenced Verses:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2024&version=ESV https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+32&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+10%3A4&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4%3A24&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+29%3A13&version=ESV
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