How to Understand God

It is a common complaint among unbelievers and believers alike that they struggle to understand God and therefore to identify with Him. In some cases, it produces a feeling of disbelief and in others detachment. There is however, a solution.

God provided a means by which we could, in some way, both understand Him and identify with Him. That means is faith. Faith is so much more than a measure of trust in a Being we can't see and can't touch. Faith is the medium that God chose through which He will interact with us. Faith is a gift. Faith is a miracle.

Hebrews 11:3 -- Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

It is impossible to explain God, the goodness of God, or the Christian life to someone who has never experienced it before. Some things, to be understood, must be experienced. Faith is how we experience the Christian life. The more faith we have, the more interaction with God we have. The more interaction with God, the more understanding we gain of Him.

To understand something fully--say, skydiving--you must experience it. Until you actually jump out of an airplane with nothing on except a backpack there is no possible way you could understand the rush, the feelings, the insights you gain while skydiving. This is true of the Christian life. If people could experience what I have experienced, I don't believe they could walk away saying there is no God. But because they haven't, because they have not experienced God, there is a tendency to dismiss God or have feelings of detachment from Him.

Faith is how we experience the Christian life. The atheist wants to be able to interact with God without faith to prove and thus validate God's existence before they believe. This is circular logic. You can't understand something fully until you have experienced it.

Five or six times some variant of the word ‘understand' appears in Proverbs 2:1-11. Notice some of the instances:

1. “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.”
2. “Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.”

The key is verse 4:

Proverbs 2:4 -- If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

The experience, the interaction, the hunt, the search is what brings understanding of God. People who have no faith do not experience God. If you can't experience God, you can't understand Him. Faith in God is our means by which we can experience Him.

Faith is our free will kicking in. It is how we make our choice to interact with God. God will not force interaction. You must decide you want it. The decision to want it is an act of faith.