Is anyone there?
by David Luke, Pastor
Who shot JFK? What really happened on the Marie Celeste? Why did the dinosaurs become extinct? There is something deeply compelling about a good mystery. Something which makes us keep turning the pages and leaves us glued to the television.
Of course what keeps us going is the conviction that the mystery can be solved. The problem with no apparent solution is frustrating rather than intriguing. To many people God provides just such a mystery. When it comes to thinking about God people are frustrated by a double-barrelled dilemma. Is anyone there? And how can we know for sure? They find this mystery frustrating rather than intriguing.
Furthermore it seems there is little help at hand. For there are, it appears, so many possible solutions to the mystery. There is today what has been called the ‘divine supermarket’ where there is an apparently endless array of religious ideas on offer. It only further compounds the mystery.
Not that this mystery a new one. Centuries ago in the city of Athens people there were confronted by a bewildering range of religious choices. It led one contemporary to quip that in Athens there were more gods than people. Indeed they even had an altar made to an unknown god in case they missed anyone out. There were so many gods on display and people loved nothing better than to get together and discuss life, death, gods and the universe.
When the apostle Paul came to that city he did not join in the debate. Instead he proclaimed to the people of Athens the God whom they did not know. The one true God who made the heavens, the earth and everything in them. The God who made man and who guides the history of the world. Having said this Paul then made a wonderful statement about God. He said, ‘God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.’
For those troubled by the mystery—Is anyone there? And how can we know for sure?—this is a wonderful statement. It tells us four vital truths:
- God is there
- He wants us to reach out to Him
- He is not far from us
- When we reach out for Him we will find Him
God is not a mystery to be solved. He is the loving Creator of the universe who longs that we would come to know Him. Indeed, as another writer in the Bible tells us, God exists and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) God Himself promises ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.’ (Jeremiah 29:13)
As a group of Christians who have found God’s promises to be true we would be glad to have an opportunity to help you if you are wrestling with those great questions — Is anyone there? And how can we know for sure?
David Luke, “Is anyone there?”, Gilnahirk Baptist Church Web site. http://www.gilnahirkbaptist.org.uk/resources/christianity/there.php (accessed 31 Jul 2010).
