Hello Jn316.
I was interested by the above comment that you made and I would like to know what you think of my situation. I`ll try to explain it the best I can, please forgive me if it is a clumsy effort.
From my understanding of what ArGee has been saying throughout this thread (I have read every post - my eyes have gone square), you cannot have a relationship with God until such time as you seek to have a relationship with God simply for the sake of having a relationship with God.
I have asked God to reveal himself to me many times and so far I haven`t got a response, but my real problem is this: When I ask God to reveal himself to me, I can`t say I am doing so because I genuinely desire a relationship with him, because my head is saying, "How can you desire a relationship with someone when you don`t know if they exist or not?" So when I ask God to reveal himself to me, it is not because I desire a relationship with him, but because I want to know if he exists or not, thereby putting the burden of proof onto God. It is my understanding that putting the burden of proof onto God is not really acceptable, so what do I do?
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Slapper.
I’m flattered ;-)
”From my understanding of what ArGee has been saying throughout this thread (I have read every post - my eyes have gone square), you cannot have a relationship with God until such time as you seek to have a relationship with God simply for the sake of having a relationship with God. “
“I have asked God to reveal himself to me many times and so far I haven`t got a response, but my real problem is this: When I ask God to reveal himself to me, I can`t say I am doing so because I genuinely desire a relationship with him, because my head is saying, "How can you desire a relationship with someone when you don`t know if they exist or not?" So when I ask God to reveal himself to me, it is not because I desire a relationship with him, but because I want to know if he exists or not, thereby putting the burden of proof onto God. It is my understanding that putting the burden of proof onto God is not really acceptable, so what do I do? “
”Your comments would be greatly appreciated.”
ArGee would probably be a person to ask, but I’ll give it a shot.
I can give you my personal experience. I’ll try to keep it short.
I asked God to reveal Himself to me. I was a seeker and I was incredibly unhappy. I was going crazy as a matter of fact. I could not deal with the pressures around me. I met a guy who told me a little about OT prophecy. He was actually talking about prophecy about Jesus but I didn’t realize it at the time. Actually, I don’t even remember what he talked about, I was stoned ALL the time, but the stories he told me were like water to a dying man. I couldn’t get enough of them. (I didn’t know it at the time but there were several people praying for me.) At this point in my life I was pretty much against Jesus. I had made up my mind about who He is/was.
I can’t really say exactly why I asked Him to reveal Himself to me. I’ve never really thought about it. I suppose something inside me knew that He was the answer to all my questions about life. I didn’t really seek a relationship with Him but I got one immediately thereafter. I’m sorry I can’t answer your question fully, all I can tell is you what happened to me.
As far as my ex-GF goes, She told me that she had asked Him if he existed as well but said she got no response. This had been going on for at least a few years. I’m not sure. Over the course of a few weeks I kept telling her to ask Him, and she would say ‘I did…’. We would repeat this over and over. I was baffled. Why would God not show Himself to someone who asked?
He finally did reveal Himself to her. He spoke to her in a beautiful way. Was it because she had a change of heart that made her seek in a different way? Something huge had just happened between the two of us and maybe it was that life change that softened her heart and got her to the place where He wanted her to be. I’m not sure.
Maybe that is your problem. Anyone can say ‘Ok God, if you exist, appear before me right now. Knock over that can on the table. Ok you don’t exist, bye bye now.’.
Maybe ArGee is correct, maybe there does have to be a certain condition of the heart that He requires before He will reveal Himself.
Why do you want to know if He exists? Intellectual curiosity? If He shows Himself to you and don’t want to have a relationship with Him then why should He even bother?
I’m sure if He did reveal Himself it would change your life drastically and you would seek a relationship. Nevertheless, I guess I’ve answered my own question. It seems like you do need to have more than intellectual curiosity.
His fingerprints are all over this world. The cosmos show His incredible handiworks.
BTW, this *is* the short version ;-)