On Sunday 21st February 1977, a teacher and pupil from a school group studying the geology of Lulworth Cove were killed by falling rocks. In 2012, tourist Charlotte Blackman aged 22 was killed in a rockfall along the Jurassic Coast at Bridport also in the UK. The sad truth is that landslides result in many deaths the world over every year, sometimes wiping out whole communities – 2000 people were killed by one in Peru in 1962. The most common cause is erosion which leads to loss of stable ground and then to a collapse just as with this cliff face. Without addressing the forces of corrosion, the collapse is inevitable and with that there will be consequences – danger to people of falling debris, an ugly scar that changes a familiar landscape and further weakness as nearby cliffs are exposed to more erosive forces. If belief in God is likened to a cliff, what are the corrosive forces that might lead to a collapse? Those forces mainly begin with thinking, perception and questions:
- Why is there suffering? People were given freewill but used it wrongly which opened a pandora’s box that has plagued humankind ever since for the consequences of sin have brought pain, sickness, suffering and death. (Romans chapters 1-3, Job)
- Why does evil exist? Evil is the opposite of good and to recognise this is to acknowledge morality, that being that there is ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’. The definition of all that is right comes from God and his righteous character. The first recorded disobedience is attributed to Archangel Lucifer who made a power grab but was thrown out of God’s presence for this. He became the figurehead for evil setting out to oppose God and all that was precious to God. (Genesis 3, Isaiah 14:15, Ezekiel 28:16-18, Revelation 12:9)
- Who needs God? Some might say God is a myth because they can’t see him and that science disproves creation – not so. There are many things we accept that we have not seen – the surface of the sun, historical figures like Julius Caesar or that the centre of the earth is 10,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Some 50% of scientists are reckoned to be believers and just 7% of the world’s population is estimated to be atheist. Belief is not down to intellect. People often turn to God in crisis. Everyone faces death – best to trust God before you meet him! (Hebrews 9:27-28, Ephesians 2:1-10)
- Why does God not intervene? God has intervened by sending his son Jesus to enter our world of suffering, to restore what we collectively lost, to bring justice and freedom. For this, mankind crucified Jesus. However, God was able to raise Jesus from death and give a pathway of life to all who trust him. There will be a final reckoning for all those who have lived evil lives and rejected God’s gift of Jesus. (John 3:16-21, John 5:16-30)
Virtually all major members of the solar system are roughly spherical in shape. Most stars and planets move in given orbits whilst journeys toward them by projectiles flying do so on a trajectory due to given forces. The basic types of paths in space are determined by the gravitational-attraction properties of concentrated masses of material and the laws of motion discovered by Newton. So what?So are you in an intellectual orbit or on a trajectory? Do you have faith in God or has it crumbled?
- ‘Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance’ – Isaac Newton
- ‘To be an atheist requires an indefinitely greater measure of faith than to receive all the great truths which atheism would deny’ – Joseph Addison
- ‘Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God’ – Francis Bacon
Those who have faith in God can make sense of the world and universe. To an atheist, it all makes little sense as there is no purpose, no prime mover, no answer and no trajectory except death. Yes there are theories that seek to explain the reasons for existence without reference to God such as ‘Natural Selection’, ‘Evolution’ and ‘The Big Bang’ but they remain theories which some teach as ‘facts’ and resolve nothing. Atheism has no answers to beauty, art, design, relationships or the future that satisfy our urge for clarity, resolution and life. It acts as a crutch to human pride but Faith is more robust in facing the hard issues of life, of right and wrong and in having the humility to trust One greater than ourselves. If you sense forces of erosion against your faith, then note how Jesus dealt with such forces when tested in the desert. On each of the three occasions, the Lord countered The Tempter by answering with God’s very words which you can read in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
- ‘Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” – Matthew 4:4
- ‘Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe’ – 1 Corinthians 1:20-21
- ‘But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life’ – Romans 1:18-21 (Paraphrase from The Message)
It is not surprising that we humans want answers for we are made in the image of God and with intelligence that sets us apart from animals. And more than that, there is something in the human heart that wants relationship with God: ‘Everything is appropriate in its own time. But though God has planted eternity in the hearts of men, even so, many cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end’ (Ecclesiastes 3:11). As God’s answer to our needs, Jesus tells us simply: ‘The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness’ – John 10:10. We may see only part of the picture as through a blurry window (1 Corinthians 13) but we must trust God with the hidden things (Deuteronomy 29:29).
If you are struggling with your faith, here are three very practical gifts to help you from God’s Word:
- What should you do? ‘And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[with your God’ – Micah 6:8
- How can you do this? ‘My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Israel (insert your own name), put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore’ – Psalm 131:1-3
- What care should you take? ‘If you think you are standing firm you had better be careful that you do not fall. Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out’ – 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
Jesus came to break us out of the dizzy orbit of doubt and disbelief onto a trajectory of life with the destination being heaven. He cares too much to have us floating aimlessly in a void. Each of us has a responsibility to follow that path and help others along the way.
- ‘The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable’ – Brennan Manning
Take a careful look at the cliff and consider the forces of erosion against your own faith. Ask God’s help, bring his word to those forces, shore up the cliff so you can walk on humbly and carefully. In that way, you will be strengthened and a strength to others.
Anchored or Adrift? (connect4life.org.uk)
Belief Series – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQDNk3Iagnk1TGbJl0ysEK03HqxSMSvxZ