To believe in something or someone is to put full confidence in that object or person. It is to develop a sense of trust that prompts such confidence.
This confidence is a regular part of life. We cannot function without it. The farmer plants seed with faith that the seed will produce a crop worthy of his efforts. Rocket scientists concentrate on mathematical formulae, expecting such computations to succeed into translating a theory into the action of rocket “flight.” Those who ride the rockets trust the scientists, engineers, mathematicians, builders and inventors who put it all together to get them safely into space and back to earth again. The new mother trusts the baby formula she buys, the customer his bank, a patient his doctor, the citizen his government and so on.
This trust is necessary precisely because we cannot see the processes involved to accomplish what we need. So, we hear the testimony, examine the evidence in relation to past success and draw conclusions on whether the benefit of such trust is warranted. We do this knowing that accidents happen, nobody’s perfect, information is limited, and results cannot be totally guaranteed.
All of this makes it rather ridiculous, then, to fail to believe in the Lord. With the Bible as His testimony and nature as His demonstration, faith in God is the only rational conclusion to draw. To call such faith a “leap in the dark,” which we would rather not make, reveals a prejudice against the Lord that is without reason or excuse (Romans 1:20).
We should believe in God because all around us and within us demands we trust the Ultimate Reason for all that is here. Design, purpose, conscience and caring all point to One Who orchestrated it all, to our benefit (for it to be otherwise is an immeasurable waste, contradicting existence itself).
God being invisible to us is not a real problem, for the whole point of faith is to understand in real terms what we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). The answer to doubt is to be open to the evidence, honestly consider its implications and then to embrace the conclusions that reason demands.
