Do you know people who say they don’t believe in God because He hasn’t proved Himself to them? Do they expect God to prove Himself according to their own terms?
Even during Jesus’ life, many people wanted
Him to prove He was God according to their own terms.
Matthew 27:38-44 38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Jesus and God aren’t subject to our demands. They are our Creator and not the other way around. God can protect His own reputation however He chooses. God isn’t compelled to react to a human’s threat or bargain.
God was with Jesus on the cross and even planned it! He wasn’t about to scrap His plan for the sake of proving who He was to a bunch of hard-hearted skeptics.
The next time you and I hear someone threaten
God or try to bargain with Him, what are some questions we could lovingly ask
them without getting defensive or argumentative?
Some I thought of are as follows:
Do you want to believe?
Are you willing to consider the proof God
has already given?
If not, maybe it’s best we end the
conversation for the time being. We can continue to pray for them and let them
know that we are available should they sincerely want to consider the proofs of
God in the future.
Alice
