Evidence of God

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).

During World War II, some soldiers who were being hunted by the Nazis hid in a bunker near the city of Cologne. In that dark shelter, they left the following inscription: "I believe in the sun even if it is not shining! I believe in God even if He is silent. I believe in His love even if it is hidden."

Right now, Dead Horse Alaska is going through a 53-day period when the sun does not rise. If you went there for a visit but did not know that the sun does indeed rise during the summer, what would clue you in that the present darkness is not a permanent condition so far north? The evidence lies in the soil. If you would move away the snow and dig into the ground, you would find seeds waiting to germinate. Even though they might be dormant now, the presence of seeds is the proof that the sun does shine in that dark and cold place.

Is there evidence to suggest that God exists? Science can’t prove it; science is based on measuring what can be seen and touched, but God is invisible and intangible. But there is evidence if you know where to look for it. Just as the sun is proved to shine in Dead Horse because there are seeds that depend on it for life, so there are seeds in this world that give evidence of the light of God’s love.

These seeds are the seeds of faith. Sometimes it is hard to see them; they are buried deep inside the psyche of all manner of human beings. And sometimes these seeds lie dormant for extended periods of time. But when they sprout and blossom, when they bear fruit, they are the clear evidence of the love of God shining upon them. How else to explain the Christian martyrs who sung hymns while Roman soldiers tortured them to death? How else to explain how a Christian can face the death of a loved one with a smile of peace even while tears roll down the cheek? How else to explain a willingness to forgive another person without expecting anything in return, not even gratitude? How else to explain an attitude of calm hopefulness when disaster makes a mess of life? Such fruit only comes from the seed of faith, a faith that is convinced that Jesus Christ has made peace between us and the God we cannot see. This seed of faith is evidence that God’s love is real, because it is impossible for us to have such reassuring confidence in the future without the light of God’s love.