If God Exists, Does He Care?

Hi this is Bernie date welcome to the Salvation Army's words of life by Megan Hoffer and I want to invite you to check out another show brought to you by the Salvation Army heartbeat is a one minute show about real life heartbeat touches on topics ranging from finances and prayer, dictating, and mental health support should be important to us only began feeling like my life was on auto pilot. The alarm goes off ready for work. The morning rush to get home. If you are looking for a short message of hope to challenge you and brighten up your day. Subscribe to heartbeat wherever you get your podcast or visit Salvation Army downcast. I welcome back to words of life. I'm Cheryl Gilman and I'm Bernie Dick last week we began our series called skeptics welcome with Ken, our God, he started off this series by asking probably the biggest question, an unbeliever could ask, does God even exist.

If you missed that episode.

Spoiler alert Ken didn't prove God exists. In fact, he reminded us that God doesn't need us to defend him only represent him this weekend continues the conversation by asking if God does exist. Does he care and as the episodes come together producer referred us to Psalm eight and in that passage. It says something to the effect of whom either you are mindful of me and I never thought of that scripture as deeply until my wife and I were celebrating an anniversary a few years ago and we went out West and in the United States we have the Grand Canyon, which I think is one of the eight wonders of the world.

When we pulled into this national park, walked over to the edge.

There's this vast expanse and that's when I realized amongst all of the things that God is created. I am so small. Whom I that you are mindful of me and II had a moment with Cobb that they beautiful. It's going to be an interesting series. So we hope that you, as our listeners and maybe even the person that submitted the very question that comes addressing will enjoy what he has to show well good morning and welcome back to our show skeptics welcome.

Are you skeptic do you believe just because everybody else believes I don't know if you've heard that's that saying God said it, I believe it, that settles it. Maybe you said that yourself where you talk about that more in the days to come, but I believe that we need to really think through what we say to other people because of it.

In the process of saying something that we can really disregard somebody's experience what somebody's going through and so that's sort of what this show is about is not only how we can have the confidence of what we believe but how to evangelize those persons who are struggling with these questions and how do I possibly give them an answer. The truth of the matter is I find very few people who believe that God does not exist. I mean, when you think about it. Anytime somebody's in trouble. All of a sudden they're praying to God that something will change. I think the question really is more not if God exists, but if God exists does he really care. I mean what's his objective is when I look at everything going on. Sometimes I fail to see where God is involved I will if you've ever seen the comedian who talks about the different ways that people view God one is like this boss ordering around his angels that are somewhat incompetent. There's another who is this grandfather type of God who senile but wants to give us whatever we want.

Some people see God as this judge, and they fear him. You see, the way we experience our life has a huge impact on the way that we see God but God really isn't limited to our self experience. So what do I do when somebody asked me how did this happen. I mean, how is it that when I watch the news that somebody might be on there saying praise the Lord.

He spared us from this storm and right next-door. Perhaps a family lost their life in that tornado or what we do with the fact that children are being abused at this very moment. How did God spare some of us. Why do some people have to go through that pain and others don't. Where is God in all that and why doesn't God just end all these wars, the room, why can't we have, in fact, world peace is God too busy. Is he sleeping. Perhaps he's going to the bathroom you might remember that challenge that Elijah gave to the prophets of bail when they are on the top of Mount caramel and he says he'll go ahead and call down your God in their slitting their wrists and their yelling and screaming to try to call down there God upon the sacrifice and Elijah says. Perhaps he can't quite hear you and then Elijah praise and the fire falls and the sacrifices consumed and he wins the argument.

What happens when you put the sacrifice of Aaron.

You've called down on God you haven't, not slitting your wrists. Are you not yelling and screaming. Or maybe you are in God's not answering what we do then will there is this one question about you to the protected him were we had but not her argument and it really goes back to Genesis chapter 1 in that verse two when it says after God created the heavens and the earth, says the earth was without form, it was empty, and darkness covered the face of the waters, but the spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep business idea that chaos is is is intrinsic in creation, but that God still hovers over these waters that are somewhat chaotic and sometimes he'll kill Jos�. Let there be light, and will separate the seas from the land will fill the earth with good things.

But sometimes the chaos remains because we've allowed it. You will notice that when you look at the rest of those chapters, following Genesis chapter 1, you have Adam and Eve failing in the garden you have in chapter 5 and six man becoming excessively wicked, where he has to find Noah, who is still righteous. You will find them then going again to to build a great tower to the sky.

You see, God gave us this ability to rule over the earth and he gave us that command at creation and he gave us this free will to do it. The unfortunate thing is because he's given us this free will. Many people have chosen to do their own thing, rather than what God would have is if everyone listen to God, we would have a perfect world, but not everybody's there, so this self-seeking continues to be destructive and it brings chaos not only in that section of the world, but everywhere chaos spreads when when people do evil.

It starts to grow out of control receipt. Miracles, when God does act and intervenes in human history.

They only happen certain times. Miracles are miracles because they don't happen all the time so what do we do when the miracle doesn't happen because sometimes the miracle does happen. Let's face that what happens when it doesn't, well, there's something called resiliency. It's the reason that we really love stories right there is this person who grows up poor on a desert planet with two sons and you know he ends up becoming Savior the entire galaxy. We like the stories because they remind us of us that everything the odds are against us, and we continue to press forward to find what God's will is for us, it strengthens us and the strategy to triumph stories are all over the place. But then there are some stories that are truly tragic that become warnings that when we do not follow God's will, twisted and bad things happen. The issue of free will is at the very center of all of this that God did not want us to be robots. He doesn't even create us like the rest of his angels, but he creates us in his image with the ability to rule and to act and to reproduce and those who seek self will always be at war with those who seek the benefit of others, and the truth is because of the limited resource idea that most of us have the scarcity mentality. Most people are thinking I need to get mine when if they only understood the resources that God provides. I believe there's enough to share. We also start to when when evil starts to happen to us. We begin to get caught in this cycle of learned helplessness and we begin begin to become victims and when you become a victim of what anybody else is doing to you and you allow that to become part of your psyche. Bad things will happen to you as well. Victims act out and lash out in anger and fear and through the struggle, rather we need to seek what God would have for us, and in those cases, we become that protagonist who overcomes all the obstacles and can see ourselves through to the next day. Does God really care.

Does he want more stories like the ones that we even talk about. It's the purpose of our testimony. It's the purpose that you need to be sharing your testimony with other people want the best possible way to evangelize the world and to know that something out there is bigger than yourself. Share your testimony.

What did God pull you through. That couldn't be seen any other way.

Then as a miracle. You see, God is still in the miracle business and I don't want you to lose that with all the other stuff going on. Now someone might ask you the question, how do you know God cares you can give them your testimony, but I challenge you to do something different. What happened to you that makes you feel that he doesn't care ask that question and then sit back and listen because in that place. You can win their heart just by listening without interrupting with their own agenda. Father, we just ask that you are still in the miracle business and that you will help us walk through these difficult circumstances that we don't understand in your name.

Amen. The Salvation Army's mission doing the most good means helping people with material and spiritual needs to become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and love to hear from you. Email us at radio@uss.salvationarmy.org or call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at PO Box 29972, Atlanta, GA 30359 tell us how we can help share prayer request or share your testimony. Would love to use your story on here. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes podcast store and surely give us a rating to search for the Salvation Army's words of life. Follow us on social media for the latest episode extended interviews and more. And if you don't have a church home. We invite you to visit your local Salvation Army worship center will be glad to see you this spring to join us next time for the Salvation Army's life