Experiencing God -- Or Not

In the previous post I listed some things I have learned from (or about) atheists, agnostics and freethinkers.

Now I want to share why it will be impossible for me to ever honestly become an atheist or agnostic.  (I still do consider myself a freethinker.)

In my encounters with all kinds of thinkers I have noticed a common thread regarding how it is that people get to their various intellectual positions, and this is it:

Our beliefs seem to be a direct result of our experiences.

Most of the atheists and agnostics I have met have made a statement something like this: "God has never revealed himself to me."

-- From this statement atheists conclude that there exists no supreme being.  Along with it they are obliged to believe evolution.  Most are quite willing to do so, seeing nothing miraculous about the existence of the universe and everything in it.

-- From this same statement agnostics go to the possibility of a supreme being whose existence can be neither proven nor disproven.  They are at liberty to accept creation or evolution or a combination of the two; they may see the divine design in the universe but, since they have never personally experienced God, they will say he has withdrawn from any kind of interaction in human affairs.

Whether or not an individual has experienced the supernatural seems to be the operative function for becoming a nonbeliever (most atheists and agnostics I've met are former believers).  Here's what they have not experienced:

• Miracles or supernatural happenings
• Healings
• Answers to prayer
• Paranormal activity
• The miracles of nature

Really, there's probably no need to categorize this stuff; it all boils down to one thing:  The supernatural -- whether we experience it or not.

Excuse me a minute; I'm getting a message from God!

And this is why I will never be able to deny the existence of God or of His activity in the world.  Because I have personally experienced the supernatural -- thousands of times over.

• I have seen thousands of answers to prayer in my lifetime -- at times almost daily.
• I have personally experienced miracles -- occurrences that defy any other explanation. (I will describe one of these miracles in detail in my next post.)
• I have been physically healed many times and have seen the healing of others.
• I have had "visions" in which truth was revealed to me, truth that was always eventually proven, sometimes before the day was out, sometimes within months.
• I have not experienced the paranormal, but I believe the accounts of those who have.  My dad, a lifelong minister in the church, was the go-to guy for exorcisms, and he told me about a few of his first-hand experiences.  His exorcisms were always conducted in the name of Jesus and produced consistent results --"deliverances".  He was also called upon to "cleanse" houses from manifestations like doors that opened and closed on their own, lights going on and off, levitations of furniture, icy-cold zones in the house, etc.  He referred to these as poltergeist (playful ghost) activity, which always ceased when he invoked the name of Jesus -- and never returned.

Is an unseen power trying to communicate with us?  Is it just our imaginations?

I have lately puzzled over the reason for God's apparent selectivity about who gets to experience him and who does not.  I have had friends tell me that they searched diligently for some sort of revelation -- and never got any kind of sign that God was communicating with them in any way.

Do some people just lack the connectivity that it takes to hear from God?

Am I one of the lucky ones who is blessed with a sense of the supernatural?

Does God love some of us more than others?

When I talk with other believers about this, most of them assert that God will always be found by those who seek him with all their hearts.  I'm not so sure.  I know people who have prayed and prayed, and waited and waited, and got nothing.

I don't know.  Maybe some people are just supposed to trust the testimony of others.  If that's the case, I am here telling you now, that there is a God and he sometimes interacts with human beings.  In fact, in my life He is right in the middle of everything.

And that's why I could never not believe in God.  I would have to deny my own senses and my own experiences to dis-believe in Jesus.

It's been said that experience is the greatest teacher.  For my non-believing friends, it seems that the lack of experience is pretty powerful too.  It's how they get to a state of non-belief.

Believe me.