A Letter To A Dear Friend

GM Brother,

I am compelled to write this to you based on a sermon that I heard this morning. You and I both know, your faith in Jesus has waned over the years. Based on what you have shared with me about your childhood, I know that you have been exposed to the Word of God, but as your life unfolded, something happened to shake your faith.

In my experience, I’ve witnessed people with feelings about God that are similar to yours. But as I abstract each of them, the common thread that each share is that they are angry with God. Each has their particular reason for the anger, but they share an anger towards God. Realize that this is a far cry from not believing.

In their anger, they are determined to ignore God’s existence. But when we consider all that is around us, ignoring God is impossible. Humans have the innate ability of logic. And no matter how stubborn we are, logically we know that there is much that we don’t know. We are consciously incompetent. Regardless of your camp, be it creationism or evolution, each of us can use our imaginations to roll back the clock to the moment when all things began: in science we call that “The Big Bang”, in Christianity we call that “Creation”.

Further abstraction of these two ideas allow them to merge into a concept of “creating something from nothing”. In science we explain this with “quantum physics”, and with Christianity we explain this as “God”. Regardless of the terms used, if we are to believe that everything about our existence was created from nothing, we have to agree that there is something that pre-dates time. In order for quantum physics to function BEFORE the big bang, the laws of quantum mechanics must pre-date that bang. So, the universe had laws and order BEFORE anything was created. I submit to you that God is that force. The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. God is the force that predates time.

I digress. Back to the reason for this note: Listening this morning to the Lead Pastor of my Church, his message revolved around the story of Jonah. You remember, the guy that was swallowed by the big fish. He spent 3 days in the belly of a whale before being puked up. In that story God gave Jonah a task. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim the pending judgement of God on that city. Instead of going there, Jonah decided to head the other way, ignoring God’s commands. Jonah did not want to do what God commanded him to do. Jonah was convinced that his own will was a better path than His will.

All of us experience this type of rebellion… God’s commands are placed on our hearts, we know what we are supposed to do, yet we turn our backs on those directions mostly based on our fears and our pride. We reject God’s plan for us, because we believe we know better.

Then we find ourselves in less than optimal situations. I’ve found that adversity is simply God talking to us to get us back on the path. Back to the story of Jonah. In Jonah’s case, he decided to get on a boat and head the exact opposite direction that God told him to go. After Jonah was more than a thousand miles from where he was supposed to be the seas got rough and crazy, and finally the sailors of the vessel he was on tossed him over the side. The story explains that when they did that the seas calmed. This is further explained that the calming of the seas was a direct indication that God was chasing Jonah.

Next, Jonah finds himself floating in the middle of the ocean… destined to drown. Well, then a big fish eats him up, and three days later spits him up on the shores of the path to Nineveh. Ultimately, Jonah complied with God’s will and prophesied to Nineveh. The citizens repented, and God spared the city. But Jonah still went through some crazy hard times before submitting to God’s will for him and his life.

Each of us wrestles with the existence of God. What I’ve come to realize is that I know there is so much that I don’t know. Another realization of mine is that I have discovered that humans, in general, will never understand infinity. Everything in our existence has boundaries, but infinity illustrates the concept of no beginning and no end. As a human locked into the “human experience”, we can never understand that. We make models and talk about it, but there is nothing that we can see, feel, taste, smell, or hear that will provide the proof of infinity. Yet our quantum science, our new age teachings, our paranormal beliefs, our Druid and Gaia concepts, etc. all offer us a magic variable to help us understand the concept of infinity. Yet, so many of us, for whatever reason, will simply not use the “G” word to describe it.

I submit to you that you are experiencing your Jonah moment. You are angry with God for some reason that even you may not fully understand, so you are attempting to move as far from God as you possibly can to assert your protest. You refuse to acknowledge His existence in the believe that your decision will make him go away. No matter how hard you try God is still real and He is still infinite: everywhere at all times. In other words, you can’t run. You can’t hide.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he is The Way. Jesus is called many things, and one of them is the “Great Physician”. Ask him to help you and you will be healed.

I’m not sure where God will lead you with your current situation. But I posit that God will put you where you are supposed to be when you are suppose to be there. As long as you have breath in your lungs, your tasks are not complete. You will complete them for the Glory of God whether you believe or not. However, without accepting redemption from Jesus, when your tasks are completed, you will forever be separated from God: separation from God IS HELL.

Start the conversation of reconciliation Brother. Just start talking to God. He hasn’t left you, and he hasn’t forsaken you. He gives you free will to accept or reject Him. He forgives absolutely and will welcome your conversation. Jesus used parables to explain the concepts of returning to God: As I’m writing this, two cool stories come to mind: The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), and the parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:12-14).

I know you have a Bible because I sent you one years ago… open it up and read those two stories. In the event that you tossed or lost it, let me know and I’ll send another.

When considering repentance, our pride often gets in the way. But the older I get the more I realize is that we all fall short of the Glory of God. We all do stuff that we shouldn’t… things that we KNOW are wrong, yet we do them anyway. So, when you chat with God, be sure to ask for forgiveness, He always forgives a repentant heart. And that forgiveness is absolute; the slate is wiped clean at that very moment.

Trust in God. Talk to Jesus. Get angry and get off your chest whatever it is that is keeping you from seeking God. Yell, scream, cry and ask Him for help. Ask him to show you what you are supposed to do and where you are supposed to be. Know that He is not done with you, but time is short, Brother.

Psalm 90:10 Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. (NLT)

Your Brother in Christ,

Kos Semonski