Shook - Science and FaithSýnishorn

  Celebrities. Scientists. Professors. Family members. Friends.

It’s not difficult to find people who deny or doubt the existence of God.

Perhaps at some point in your life you’ve wondered too. 

Of course, all the denial and doubt in the universe doesn’t change the fact that we are surrounded day and night by tangible evidence of Divine handiwork. 

Consider, for a moment . . .

• the vast landscape of a starry night
• the complexity of the world within a single cell
• the splendor of a horizon painted with the colors of the sunrise
• the cry of a newborn baby

In fact, even our own bodies are a testament to the miraculous. Did you know, for example, that your brain generates enough electricity to power a lightbulb? Or that your eyes can distinguish an estimated ten million colors? Or that, if uncoiled and laid end-to-end, the DNA in all the cells in your body would stretch from here to Pluto and back—about 10 billion miles?

Creation is a masterpiece. You are a masterpiece. And where there is a masterpiece, it makes sense that there’s a Master.

No one in their right mind would admire the Mona Lisa then conclude, “This painting exists, but the painter does not.” Or read Les Misérables, then decide no one penned the words. Or listen to one of Beethoven’s symphonies while denying the role of a composer.

So why do we bask in the wonders of our world, universe, and bodies—then question the existence of an intelligent and powerful Creator?

In fact, admiring the creation while denying the creator contributes to a kind of cognitive dissonance. Something about the idea that “God doesn’t exist” feels unsettled and unsettling because, well . . . pretty much everything around us screams otherwise.

So why do we doubt?

Oh, there are lots of possible reasons. 

Perhaps we want to fit in with one group or another. Or maybe we don’t know how to question things we’ve been taught. We can even be motivated by the fear that, if God is real, we may need to change some beliefs or behaviors with which we’ve grown comfortable. 

And yet . . .

“You can’t go through the forests of Africa and see the magnificent trees, or look up at night and see the Milky way gloriously shiny, and not have a powerful sense that there’s something behind it. That there’s a God behind it.”

Nature declares it.

Science reveals it. 

Our bodies show it.

Even our spirits resonate with the truth as we slow down and pay attention. 

Dear God, it’s easy to be pulled in a lot of different directions, but I want to follow the truth. I want to follow you. Reveal to me all that you want me to know and understand about who you are. Nurture in me a confident faith and help me to share that faith with others.