My conversion experience occurred in 2007. Since then my faith and my efforts towards my Christian Spirituality has grown tremendously. However, there are difficult times still. There are times when doubts enter my mind concerning the existence of God.
Thankfully, I recognize within myself when these doubts come. Thankfully, I work hard to deflect these thoughts or to squash them head on. I do this by thinking of the effects of God which I have witnessed. The effects of God are all around us. I see the beautiful sunrise, I see a kind smile from a stranger, and I see “coincidences” in my life which enabled a wonderful result. I think of the dark times in my life and I see that God was there to keep me alive and there to keep me going even when I was not faithful to Him and even when I was not very conscious of His existence. Surely now, with my commitment to my faith, God is still here to keep me alive and to keep me going! I think of the opportunity I had to serve as a Spiritual Director for two men’s retreats, and I see how the retreatants were impacted in a way which was the result of something so much more than us retreat hosts could have possible enabled on our own! I see how I myself have changed, how my thoughts have changed, and how people’s perception of me has changed, even 8 years after my conversion.
God’s effect does strengthen my knowledge of God’s existence. No, I do not know exactly who God is from His effects, but I do know He exists!
If you have some difficult times as I do at times, and question God’s existence, I invite you to consider what effects of God you have witnessed. What blessings have you experienced? What coincidences have occurred in your life that produced a positive result? What are you thankful for? I invite you to ask these kind of questions immediately upon waking. By starting our days with the knowledge of God’s existence, our days are blessed, and we become more grateful.
If you have more questions, talk to a trusted, dedicated Christian friend, speak to your pastor, priest, or religious leader. or feel free to contact me through the Contact Us section of this website. Feel free to peruse my other posts on faith. This is too important to overlook.