Simple Belief

I used to think that simple belief in God was weak. I guess I saw so many people in my life that said they believed in God but they did not live like it. Not so much that they were bad people doing bad things. But that they did not wrap the key things of their life around this being that is so powerful. They didn’t give much thought to God in their daily decisions/activities and certainly did not in the big decisions of life. So I naturally thought that simple belief in God was lame and useless. I am wrong about that. Simple belief in God is the most important first step in living faith.

So it is important to start our approach to God with an understanding of our standing in the universe. I’ve heard it said that some folks, when looking at the stars of the night sky, realize how small they really are. I think that is a beginning. Another beginning can be looking much smaller - at atoms. This reminds me of Colossians 1:16-17 where it talks about Christ the creator of all but not only that he holds all things together. This includes holding our atoms together. Acts 17:28 continues this thought by saying that we live and move and have our very being in God. God consciously keeps us in being - in existence. Is there any other thought that can keep us in a more proper, humble state as a creature? God did not just simply create this world and humans and let it go as if it could exist on its own. If God were to take his mind off of us we would cease to be - not just die. We also know through science that our universe has a starting point and is expanding outward. It is impossible for substance to start out of nothing on its own. St. Thomas Aquinas called God the “first cause” due to His creating all that is in our universe out of nothing.

This being the case, now what? In the famous interaction between God and Job, God shows Job how he fits in God’s cosmos. When God sees us he sees us as a tiny speck in the grand enormity of His creation. He also sees us as a focal point where we fill his vision in the foreground and all else fades into the background. He sees us both ways and that is how we are to see ourselves – insignificant as a creature yet of utmost worth as His creation most loved. I’m still learning how to have this impact my daily life. I hope you will ponder this and ask Him to help you see as He sees.