A few years ago, writer Maureen Dowd was in Australia to promote her book Are Men Necessary? At one event, Dowd and a female interviewer were on stage when a member of the audience asked if a podium blocking her view could be moved. In an instant, two men heaved aside the heavy podium as the audience began to laugh. “Are men necessary?” the interviewer quipped, “I think the question has been answered.”
A variety of voices today proclaim the “irrationality” of belief and the “nonsense” of divine things. In their own words they ask, “Is God necessary?” As I ponder Maureen Dowd’s experience, I wonder if there isn’t an ironic twist to their question too.
“Is God necessary?” the critic asks, using the very breath God has given him (Acts 17:25). “There is no God,” says another, as she enjoys God-given sunshine and rain (Acts 14:17). “I’m living fine without God,” says a third, not realizing his place of birth was divinely determined (Acts 17:26). “God is the cause of all wars,” says a fourth, forgetting all the hospitals, assisted-living homes, and charities started in His name. “God is dead,” said Friedrich Nietzsche, while in fact God is on the stage helping us out.
Two disciples once walked along a dusty road talking about religious things (Luke 24:13-34). As they traveled, a third person joined them. They didn’t recognize His face, but His words made their hearts “burn within [them]” (Luke 24:32). Only later, as they urged Him to stay, did they discover it was God-in-the-flesh (Luke 24:31).
As debates about God’s existence continue, isn’t it ironic that He is walking beside us as we talk? He’s there, hidden but present, revealing Himself more fully to those who invite Him to stay.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Judges 15:1-20
More:
Read Acts 17:28 and consider what Paul’s words reveal about God and His presence in our lives.
Next:
Have you ever in a moment of doubt wondered if God was “necessary”? How has He recently been displaying Himself and His ways to you?
Gary Shultz on March 12, 2017 at 5:49 am
Hi Sheridan: Congratulations on the adding of ODB to your work/ministry picture… The thoughts today could make one run all over place because of the question, not the answer. God has always been, and maybe some folks think, as you have pointed to, they can stand on the earth God has created and curse their maker. Others just ignore Him, but Romans tells us God has set a witness in His creation itself of His greatness. So, at least to me, we don’t have to defend God, just witness the experience of life with Him. It is usually easy to tell those who deny God’s existence, they send a lot of time trying to rid their life of what they call nothing. Well, God said, He wishes we either be hot or cold, many really work on the cold, and some come to learn it’s great to be hot. It seems like anything in life the longer you’re in the “game” the more familiar you should be with God, and its hard to doubt His presence. He waits each day to show us more of Himself and His greatness. Thanks Sheridan
Sheridan Voysey on March 13, 2017 at 3:09 am
Thanks Gary. I get what you mean by not needing to defend God’s existence. Creation speaks for him, as does our personal experience. In my further experience, there’s also a place for working through the genuine questions of God’s existence with people who struggle to believe, whether based on the evil in the world, scientific naturalism, etc. I’m grateful for the great apologists down the ages that have helped give language to those questions.
And thank you regarding ODB. It’s a privilege for me to write for both now!
crossman61 on March 12, 2017 at 11:37 am
Thank you Sheridan for this thought provoking , Devotional this morning . As Gary said these thoughts and questions can make one run all over the place. To us as true Followers of Christ it seems like just common sense , that how this world is made so perfect to sustain life itself. How this planet is set in motion just in the right spot , and it keeps turning or spinning around . Like Perpetual motion . That Science says , or they use to say it is impossible to create . Something I have tried to do myself . A self powered generator that runs off its own power . The picture is so big and right in front of us , and most can not see this. There is so many display of Gods power , but sadly most can not see these things the way Our Father in Heaven shows His power .(( Romans 1:20 NIV . For since the creation of the world Gods invisible power and divine nature , have been clearly seen , being understood from what has been made , so that men are without excuse . ))
Sheridan Voysey on March 13, 2017 at 3:10 am
‘A self-powered generator…’ That’s a powerful image itself. Thanks crossman61.