Is God Really There?

I am one year older than Elizabeth Smart.  If you don't remember, in 2002, she was kidnapped from her home in Salt Lake City.  She was a lovely, tall blonde with hazel eyes.  I grew up about 40 minutes from Salt Lake and was also a lovely, tall blonde with hazel eyes.  On multiple occasions in the weeks that followed her kidnapping, I was mistaken for Elizabeth Smart and almost had the police called a few times.  To say the least, I was a little spooked by the entire situation.

Also during that time, I started to wonder, "Is God really there?".

I once read a quote in someone's locker that said:

"I would rather live my life as if there is a god and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is."

-Albert Camus

I suppose this is faith.  A glimmer of hope that God could possibly be there - and that His promises are worth it if I will act on that faith.

But is He really there?

Does He care about us?

Does He know me?

My desire for religion started with His promises.  He had a guarantee that calmed my childhood fears and was worth being a "good girl" for.

I remember being very young and always being a worry wart.  I specifically remember a night when my dad was late coming home from a meeting.  Truthfully, he was probably only a minute or two late - but in the mind of a small child, it felt a lot longer.

I remember crying to mom, "Where is daddy?  What if there's been an accident?  What if he never comes home?"

To her overly dramatic daughter, my mother gently comforted me, "I think your dad is fine - he's just running late.  But Felicia, I want you to know something:  Even if he isn't fine and your daddy is killed in an accident, our family is forever.  Daddy and I were married in the temple.  We made promises to God and God made promises to us that our family is sealed together by the Holy Priesthood.  That means that if we are faithful to the promises we made, God will make sure that we are with daddy again." (To learn more about Mormon Temples, please click here.)

My mother's words and God's promises relieved my worried heart.  (My dad, soon after, arrived home safe and sound).  In me, was a seed of trust.  I had a taste of the confidence that comes when you can trust someone more powerful, loving and knowledgable than yourself.

In the field of science, there is a pattern of discovery called, "The Scientific Method".  Basically, you ask a question (a hypothesis), formulate a possible answer (a theory) and then collect quantitative data to prove or disprove your theory (conclusion).

For me, discovering truth about heavenly things has a similar pattern: hypothesis, hope in a theory, acting in faith to acquire data and gaining knowledge as we come to a conclusion.


Hope

Long before knowledge and even before faith, there is hope.

God makes a promise.  I ask the question (hypothesis), "Is God's promise valid?"

When formulating a possible answer (a theory), I exercise a little hope.  I hope that God's promises are real.  If I didn't even hope for that much, I would not be motivated to find out.  Unfortunately, many don't even give God a chance because they DOUBT before they have data and just assume that He isn't there.

"Hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the

  foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls" 

(The Infinite Power of Hope, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Oct. 2008 General Conference).

Acting in Faith

Then you must collect data.  This is the time to ACT in FAITH.  You will never be able to measure the force of gravity if you refuse to drop the ball.  We must act on God's promise.  Be it honesty, kindness, chastity, charity, modesty, or any of the many commandments and promises God makes to us, we must ACT.

Take for example, this story from the Old Testament:

The Children of Israel have been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  Moses is gone and now Joshua is the prophet and leader.  As they approach the promised land, they have one final barrier to cross: the river Jordan.

God makes a promise to the people (through the prophet, Joshua) that if the priests that are carrying the ark of the covenant will cross the river first, He will cause "the waters of Jordan to be cut off" (Joshua 3:13) and the people will cross over on dry land.

Interestingly, everyone approaches the water, prepared to see a miracle.  They definitely have HOPE that God will keep His promise, but as they wait on the banks, the water rushes by and it seems that God will fail them.  Here is their moment to act.

"And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water" (Joshua 3:15), immediately, the water "stood and rose up upon a heap... and the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan" (Joshua 3:15-17).

They had to get their feet wet!  They had to demonstrate faith and ACT.

Knowledge

As we act on faith, we look for data.  In the case of the Israelites, the data was very clear - the Jordan river was parted and they crossed on dry land.

While our data can be miraculous like this story, it is more often gained through a witness from the Holy Ghost.

This is one of my favorite definitions of Knowledge:

"A personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost that certain facts of 

eternal significance are true and that we know them to be true." 

(Testimony, Dallin H. Oaks,  April 2008 General Conference)

When Simon-Peter bears his profound witness of Jesus Christ: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," Christ commends him because "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 16:17-18).

Knowledge of spiritual things comes through the Spirit of God.  Paul testifies of this in 1 Corinthians 2:11, "The things of God knoweth no man, but [by] the Spirit of God".

Two Prayers: Two Forms of Data

As I mentioned in the beginning, I was a young teenager looking for answers.

I profoundly remember a night as I said my bedtime prayers.  I started to think about how WEIRD I looked to anyone who didn't understand prayer.  I was kneeling on a hard wood floor and talking to myself!  In the quirkiness of youth, I literally laughed out loud - at myself!

What if God wasn't there?  What if He wasn't even listening?  Was I showing signs of insanity by talking to myself?

Then there was a different night, a few months later and only a week after Elizabeth Smart had been kidnapped.  I was over at a friend's house and we were having a sleep-over, outside on her trampoline.  The evening was great as we played under the stars and we were all asleep in a heap on the tramp - when I was awakened by a noise.

It was probably nothing - but fear is powerful.  I listened to the darkness and tried to calm myself.  A sense of dread overwhelmed me and I froze in panic.  I was afraid to run to the house by myself and leave my friends in possible danger (real or imaginary) - but I was also afraid to wake everyone up and worry them because of my own silly paranoia.

I was certainly hopeful that God was there.  I hoped that God was aware of me.  I really hoped he would help me.

I decided to act in faith.

I decided to pray.

I prayed for our safety.  I prayed for comfort.  I prayed for a solution to this evening scare.  As I closed my prayer, a raindrop fell on my cheek.  Within moments, a storm broke out and everyone woke up to pelting rain!  We ran inside and spent the rest of the night, asleep in a heap on the living room floor.

I didn't fall asleep right away.  The storm blew out as quickly as it had blown in.  That living room floor will always be a sacred place to me because I saw the Hand of God in my life.  I knew that He knew me.  He heard my prayer and He responded quickly and powerfully to show me that He was in charge.  I had data and my data was a miraculous summer storm in the desert.

Rewind back to the night in my room.  As my laughter faded, I felt an urge to pray again.  I found myself on my knees again, on the hard wood floor and speaking aloud.  I didn't have much to say, I only had one question.

"God, are you really there?"

I did not have a vision.  The heavens didn't open.  I didn't even get a drop of rain.  Instead, I was filled with love.  I felt enveloped in a love and comfort that reached deep within me and warmed my soul.  The Apostle Paul masterfully described it:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 

gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."

(Galatians 5:22-23)

I had received data - and it was a witness of the Holy Ghost.

There are still many things I do not know - But I do know that God is there.  He knows me.  These are only snippets of the volumes of experiences that have borne witness to me.

I can say "I know" because after hypothesizing, theorizing with HOPE, collecting data by ACTING in FAITH and receiving a witness of the Holy Ghost, I have KNOWLEDGE.

This pattern can be applied to every question - every commandment - every promise that God has made.

He is there.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

(Matthew 7:7)