Last night and today, I engaged in a discussion about the existence of God from a site showing pictures of a supposedly empty part of space that wasn’t so empty: Proof that we are really insignificant

It started out with a lady making — what I thought — was a rather innocuous statement: “Yeah, God’s sandbox is full of gemstones. Amazing!”

The next comment said, “God’s sandbox? WTF is God’s sandbox supposed to mean? Is that some kind of religious mythology BS?”

I had to respond with this: “Chill, James. It’s one person’s perspective on the wonders of the universe. Yours differs. So what?”

I received quite a few likes for that one, and proceeded to make other comments defending both God and the Bible as atheists continued to bash the original commenter, God and the Bible.

Big mistake. I couldn’t convince them that God indeed existed and could not be compared to having faith in pink unicorns. They basically accused me of ignoring reality, preferring instead to live in fantasy land.

I soon ran into this little gem in Proverbs 26:4

Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.

It was God’s way of telling me not to waste my time. A seed planted on solid rock cannot grow, and so many of the people trying to argue with me (when I firmly believed my comments were sound, and not from a religious perspective, either. I thought I was being quite rational and logical) had hearts of stone. They seemed more interested in their own words than hearing anyone else’s point of view.

The entire episode was both frustrating and sad. They won’t even consider the possibility that God exists. They call Christians closed minded, arrogant and trying to elevate humans above what they really are. I couldn’t help but shake my head. Sure, some are, but so are many people of all faiths — or lack thereof.

God is real to me; he has shown himself to me in a way I cannot deny him. One person noted that how can God have been shown to me if I still can’t prove he exists.

God is a personal God. He reveals himself to those who sincerely seek him in such a personal way. I couldn’t begin to describe to anyone how it happened to me, because it is so personal.

All God asks for is an open and a sincere heart. He wants to be invited, not force himself on us.

A friend of mine linked a blog today that describes what faith is much better than I can: Constant Contact Devotional

The writer highlighted the one verse that said it all:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

I can’t prove God to anyone, because — to use a quote from the movie “Santa Clause” — seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.

God also said, however

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Romans 1:20

It is both sad and frustrating, but that’s the way God wants it. I have to accept the way God does things, because he knows what he’s doing. Who am I to question his methods (even though I really, really want to understand them)?

But this fool, at least for now, is done tilting at windmills. I can only pray that my words have some positive effect on someone, as foolish as they are. Again, I have to leave that up to God, in spite of what I do if not because of what I do.