The best answer to the existence of God is also the worst answer

Anyone who has ever tried to convince an atheist of the existence of God, has probably walked away, feeling that even their best arguments would not have made a dent into someone who is sure that there is no Supreme Being.

Recently an Israeli soldier had one of the best answers for the existence of God. He said, “I definitely believe in God, otherwise how can I be so angry with him?” What sounds like a perverse comment, is a very accurate explanation as to why so many people stop believing in God. Their personal expectations of how He should act have not been met.

For them, the existence of suffering, poverty, sickness, corruption and all of the other evils, which are so prevalent in our world, prove that there could not possibly be a God. Such a being would not allow these things to occur. A loving deity, in their mind, would only permit blessing and goodness. Wars, hatred and conflict would not exist!

But it is that distorted understanding of the nature of God which, ironically, turns the soldier’s convincing response into the worst possible answer. All we know about God, comes from one source, and that’s the scriptures. They tell us how we got here and who created us.

According to what is written, we know that God made us perfect and sinless.  We also know that He gave us free will – the ability to make our own choices. Sadly, that is what brought on all the evil we know today, accompanied by pain and destruction. The moment we decided that we knew better than God, we invited a world filled with chaos to ultimately ruin everything for us.  

So, proving God’s existence, by the mere anger held against Him, is completely invalid, because we are the ones who basically brought on all the bad which surrounds us each day. Blaming Him for the terrible choice of our forebears, Adam and Eve, who passed on the consequence of sin to each one of us, is not the fault of God. He believed we should not be created as puppets but rather as free agents who make their own decisions.  

That means that for God to remove all of the bad outcomes, which came as a result of disobeying His instructions, we would have to be recreated in a way that free will would no longer be an option. Because leaving us to our own devices and independent thinking would simply be a repeat of choosing to bring about the worst possible repercussions. Consequently, we would be right back where we started. 

Just like that Israeli soldier, we make our first mistake by placing ourselves on the same level as a perfect, infinite and all-knowing God, who created the earth and everything that exists. It is a fatal mistake to think that our limited and corrupted minds could ever be on par with the Creator of the universe. It’s like the canvas telling Rembrandt how he should have painted one of his great masterpieces.

It is that incredible hubris and foolish presumption, which already displays a complete and total ignorance of a Supreme Being who formed everything from nothing. Does anyone possess such power or ability? And if that Being is held in contempt for not putting an end to the misery experienced by all of us, doesn’t that mean that someone thinks God has the capability to do so, but has chosen otherwise?

And if He does have that kind of capacity, why would any mere human being dare to suppose that their mental, physical and cognitive faculties are able to comprehend such a force. whose authority, control and dominion are on an entirely different level?

Furthermore, why would any human believe that this powerful God would regret His decision to create us as free agents, who possess independent thought? And why should He choose to remove the ensuing punishment which we continue to bring upon ourselves? He certainly knows, in advance, that nothing will change! Because each time we would be faced with a new course of action, almost predictably we would select the worst possible option.

Look at it this way. It’s like purchasing an intricate do-it-yourself kit with no instruction manual or item description. You are asked to construct the contents but haven’t got a clue what it is, how it’s supposed to be put together or which pieces connect to one another. Let’s make it even more complicated. You are expected to build it in a dark room. What are your chances of success?

This is as close to the reality of our existence on earth, when we choose to construct our lives without the Master Creator, because He is the only one capable of helping us put all the pieces in the right place. Without His light, we are groping our way through a dark and wicked world, which offers the highest levels of pain and suffering, often brought on by our own doing.

But even if we are not directly responsible for the injustice or malady, which can and does befall us, we are, nonetheless subject to the rebellious spirit which was exemplified by the first man and woman when they supposed they knew better by choosing to eat forbidden fruit. Had they not put themselves on a level playing field with their Creator, the rest of us would be living a blissful existence, but that first choice literally killed it for all of us.

Sad as it is, this is the reason that man’s anger against God is the worst answer to His existence. The truth is that none of us has the right to be angry at Him for what was done to us by our own species. And don’t think, for one minute, that any of us wouldn’t have chosen to do the same thing.  

Perhaps, the whole story of creation is understanding that God loved us enough to give us free will, but He also loved us enough not to take it away from us, because if He did, our loyalty would be pre-determined. God is seeking out those who will love Him as a free and independent act which they choose by themselves.

When you think about it, that level of self-denial and deference to Him is possibly the strongest proof for the existence of God, because it displays an understanding that we are the creation and not the Creator!