There Aren't Any Monkeys In My Family Tree

"Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:19, 20

I was saved when I was 6 years old. I still remember it vividly to this day. The fear of walking in front of an auditorium full of fellow VBS-goers, the feeling of warmth and excitement as the Holy Spirit entered to make my heart His dwelling place...these are just two of the things I will not forget about that day.

It's been 23 years since that day, and I will confess that there have been times I have doubted its significance. To place your faith in a God that cannot be seen is an arduous task. In my brief moments of doubt, I find myself thinking back on that day, and especially on the moment, when I without a doubt felt the presence of God. I was acutely aware of His presence, and I was flooded with peace, relief, and, most of all, joy. I was saved. I was redeemed. And I knew it. I knew that something was different. I felt it.

However, many would argue that feelings cannot always be trusted, and I would have to agree. Were my feelings my only assurance, doubt would most likely still reign. But my assurance in the existence of God lies not only in my encounter with His presence. I see Him. Or rather, I see His signature in what He has created. The complexity of life, the delicate balance of nature, I cannot believe that these things just happened. As a mother of three children, I can attest to the fact that order does not stem from chaos without active participation on someone's part. I certainly wish that dinner just fixed itself, that the clothes washed and folded themselves, that toys migrated back to the toybox...but we all know that's not the case. :)

This world screams of a creator. As intelligent beings, we are unable to understand, let alone replicate, the human body. How then could something so complex that it cannot be entirely undestood simply form into existence without design, without forethought? Even an amoeba, a single-celled organism, the most basic of living creatures, is so complex that it cannot be replicated. Consider the precision of nature, the fundamental parameters that make life possible. The concentration of oxygen in the air we breathe is exactly that necessary for our survival. The position of the Earth in its revolution about the sun provides for the exact range of temperature required. The gravitational force found here on earth is precisely that necessary to ensure that all beings can function as necessary. The list goes on. Even the slightest change in any one of these parameters would make life impossible.

The Bible says in Romans 1 that we are all without excuse. It says that we find evidence of God just by looking at nature. I will be the first to admit, there are times when I consider what my faith looks like to those on the outside, and I think to myself, "I must look like a fool to these people. Here I am, talking about having eternal security in a man who lived 2000 years ago." But then I think about this universe in which we live, and I have not a doubt in my mind that I was created. I didn't come from apes. I didn't just happen. You didn't just happen. We were designed.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately; I'm not really sure why. I know that arguing my faith is pointless. You can tell a bachelor how great marriage is all you want, but until he finds the woman that he loves, and he wants to get married, he'll never believe you. But if you've read this far, then hopefully you've taken a moment to realize what an incomprehensible creation you are. You did not happened by luck or coincidence. You were created.