BEING JUST IS NOT PROOF OF GOD’S EXISTENCE

What Has Your God Actually Done for You That Makes Him a Great God?

This is a difficult question, and perhaps it is a question we do not ask often enough. When I ask someone, “Why do you believe there is a God?”, I am not merely asking whether they believe in the existence of a Supreme Being. I am asking something deeper: What has your God done in your life that makes Him more than an idea, a tradition, a philosophy, a cultural inheritance or even a fictional possibility? There are things that God does because He is a just God. So when someone answers, “I believe in God because of His justice,” I would say that this is not really the complete answer. Justice may explain something about God’s character, but it does not by itself explain your personal relationship with Him.

Many of the answers we give when defending our belief in God are not necessarily evidence of a personal God. Someone says, “He gave me life.” Yes, but He also gave life to murderers, robbers, oppressors and those who hate you. Someone says, “He gave me health.” Yes, but He has also allowed your oppressor to wake up healthy this morning. Someone says, “He gave me food.” Yes, but people who do not acknowledge Him also eat. Someone says, “He gave me the sun.” Yes, but the sun rises on everyone. Someone says, “He gave me rain.” Yes, but rain falls on the just and the unjust. So the question becomes: What is uniquely yours? What has God done for you that cannot simply be explained as something He gives to humanity generally?

Being Just Does Not Make Him Your God

Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, “For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Think carefully about what Jesus is saying. God gives sunshine to the righteous and the unrighteous. He gives rain to the believer and the unbeliever. He gives life to the saint and the sinner. He allows the righteous and the wicked to experience many of the same natural blessings. That is justice.

But being just is not the same thing as being relational. God’s universal goodness, mercy and justice do not automatically prove that you personally know God. In fact, Jesus uses God’s goodness towards everyone to teach us something about His character. God’s goodness and mercy are not restricted to those who deserve them. His sun does not ask whether you believe before it rises, and His rain does not ask whether you are righteous before it falls.

Therefore, when someone says, “I know God because He gives me life,” my question is, “Doesn’t He also give life to those who do not believe in Him?” When someone says, “I know God because He gives me health,” I ask, “Doesn’t He also allow your enemy to experience health?” When someone says, “God has blessed me,” I ask, “What kind of blessing are you talking about that uniquely demonstrates your relationship with Him?” There is a difference between what God gives to everyone and what God does in relationship with you and your belief in Him. Those are not necessarily the same thing.

Ecclesiastes Gives Us Another Warning

Ecclesiastes 9:11 says, “The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favour to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.” That is a fascinating observation. Being fast does not guarantee victory. Being strong does not guarantee winning the battle. Being wise does not guarantee wealth. Being skilled does not guarantee favour. And time and chance happen to everyone.

The unbeliever experiences it. The believer experiences it. The righteous experience it. The wicked experience it. The rich experience it. The poor experience it. The educated experience it. The uneducated experience it. Therefore, if your entire understanding of God is based on things that happen to everyone, how do you distinguish God from chance? That is the uncomfortable question.

This is not necessarily an attack on faith. It is a challenge to examine faith. If everything that happens to you is automatically labelled, “God did it,” how do you know? If everything that goes well is called, “God’s blessing,” what happens when the same thing happens to someone who does not believe in God? Does God stop being God, or have we simply interpreted a common human experience as a uniquely divine experience?

What Makes Your God Special?

Suppose I ask you, “Why do you believe in God?” You say, “He gave me life.” My next question is, “What about the murderer?” You say, “He gave me health.” I ask, “What about your enemy?” You say, “He gave me a family.” I ask, “What about the person who does not believe in Him?” You say, “He gave me opportunities.” I ask, “And what about those who do not acknowledge Him?”

At some point, you may begin to realise that you have been describing God’s common goodness, mercy and justice rather than explaining your personal relationship with Him. So let me ask the harder question: What has God done for you that is uniquely connected to your relationship with Him? Not what He does for humanity. Not what nature does. Not what everyone receives. Not what happens by circumstance. Not what happens simply because you are alive. What has He done for you?

This becomes possible to understand if God is relational. A relational God is not simply a God who exists somewhere beyond human experience. Relationship involves communion, communication, fellowship, interaction, trust, guidance, correction, obedience and growing knowledge. When you have a genuine relationship with someone, you do not merely know that the person exists; you come to know the person. You learn their character, their ways, their voice, their values and their expectations. You communicate with them, spend time with them, listen to them and respond to them.

Therefore, if we claim that God is relational, we should be willing to ask what that relationship actually looks like. Do you commune with God? Do you communicate with Him? Do you fellowship with Him? Do you listen to Him? Do you respond to Him? Are you growing in your knowledge of Him? And perhaps most importantly, can you distinguish your relationship with God from simply having a religious belief about God?

Is God Relational to You?

If God is truly your God, then surely the relationship should mean something. If God is relational, think carefully. Does He communicate with you? If He communicates, how does He communicate? Is it daily? Is it merely something you read about other people experiencing in the Bible, or have you learnt to recognise His voice through Scripture, prayer, conviction, wisdom and the leading of the Holy Spirit?

And if you believe God speaks to you, can you distinguish God’s communication from your own imagination, emotions, ambitions and desires? Saying “God told me” does not automatically make something God. Genuine relationship requires discernment. It requires knowing God’s character and testing what you believe you have heard against His Word and His revealed character.

If God guides you, how does He guide you? Is His guidance something you only recognise after making your own decision, or are you actually learning to walk with Him before making decisions? Can you recognise His direction? Can you recognise His correction? Can you recognise when He is telling you to wait? Can you recognise when He is telling you to move? Can you recognise when your own desires are fighting His will?

Do You Know God’s Plan for You?

We often say, “God has a plan for my life.” But another question follows: Do you know anything about that plan? Is it specific? Is it becoming clearer as you walk with Him? Does your relationship with God produce direction, purpose, obedience and transformation? Does it influence your decisions, your relationships, your career, your ministry, your priorities and the things you pursue?

Or is “God has a plan for me” simply a comforting sentence we repeat whenever life becomes uncertain?

If God has a plan and you believe that you are walking with Him, then there should at least be some evidence that your relationship with Him is influencing the direction of your life. You may not know every detail of tomorrow, but you should be able to look back and recognise moments where you were guided, corrected, redirected, strengthened or transformed.

If He’s Big, Show Me His Bigness

If your God is big, show me His bigness in your life. If He is great, show me His greatness in your life. I am not necessarily asking about money. I am not asking how expensive your car is, how large your house is, how many followers you have or how successful you appear to be. I am asking something deeper.

Show me His wisdom. Show me His character. Show me His guidance. Show me His correction. Show me His transforming power. Show me His love. Show me His holiness. Show me His patience. Show me His discipline. Show me His purpose. Show me what you have become because you know Him.

Perhaps the greatest evidence that God is working in someone’s life is not what they possess, but who they are becoming. A person can have wealth and still be wicked. A person can experience success and still be spiritually empty. A person can have influence and still have no character. Therefore, if we are looking for evidence of God’s greatness, perhaps we should look beyond possessions and circumstances and look at transformation.

What Has God Changed in You?

Here is another question: Before you tell me what God has given you, tell me what God has changed in you.

Has knowing God changed how you think? Has it changed how you treat people? Has it changed your priorities? Has it changed your attitude? Has it changed your character? Has it changed your relationship with money? Has it changed your response to suffering? Has it changed how you forgive? Has it changed how you love? Has it changed how you handle power? Has it changed how you respond when nobody is watching? Has it changed what you desire? Has it changed what you are willing to sacrifice?

Because a God who is relational should not merely change your circumstances; He should also be changing you.

Do You Have God — Or Just a Belief About God?

This may be the most uncomfortable part of the entire discussion. You can believe that God exists without necessarily walking with God. You can defend the existence of God intellectually and still have no meaningful relationship with God. You can inherit a religion. You can inherit a denomination. You can inherit your parents’ faith. You can inherit Christian vocabulary. You can learn Bible verses. You can attend church. You can sing worship songs. You can pray. You can preach. You can even say, “God told me.” And yet the deeper question remains: Do you actually know God?

There is a difference between believing in God and knowing God. There is a difference between knowing about God and walking with God. There is a difference between having a religion and having a relationship. There is a difference between talking about God and actually listening to God. There is a difference between knowing the stories of God and allowing your own life to be shaped by the God you claim to know.

Justice Is Not Proof of Intimacy

Rain falling on you does not mean you know the One who sends the rain. Sunshine on your face does not mean you have a relationship with the One who made the sun. Having food does not necessarily mean you know the Provider. Having life does not necessarily mean you know the Giver of life. Having opportunities does not necessarily mean you know the One you call God.

These things may demonstrate God’s goodness. They may demonstrate His mercy. They may demonstrate His justice. But justice is not proof of intimacy.

God can be just towards everyone while having a specific relationship with those who seek Him, know Him and walk with Him. Therefore, we should not confuse God’s general goodness towards humanity with the evidence of our personal relationship with Him.

Then What Is the Evidence?

Perhaps the evidence is not merely that God gives you something. Perhaps the deeper evidence is that you know Him. You know His Word. You know His character. You know His ways. You know His correction. You recognise His leading. You understand what it means to wait on Him. You understand what it means to obey Him when obedience costs you something. You understand what it means to trust Him when circumstances make no sense. You understand what it means to be corrected by Him. You understand what it means to walk with Him.

This does not mean that every believer will have spectacular supernatural experiences every day. It does not mean that every decision will come with a dramatic voice from heaven. It does mean that if we claim to have a relationship with God, that relationship should have some evidence in our lives.

Life: Plan or Chance?

Ecclesiastes tells us that “time and chance happen to them all.” So perhaps we should ask: What is chance? What is providence? What is God’s plan? What is human choice? What is coincidence? What is God’s intervention? And perhaps most importantly, can you discern God within your circumstances?

Life can sometimes look like randomness. You meet someone unexpectedly. A door opens. Another closes. You lose something. You gain something. You succeed. You fail. You wait. You start again. You experience something you never planned. We often rush to label everything, “God did it,” or “It was just luck.” But how do you know?

If you claim God is directing your life, how do you discern His direction? If you believe He is involved in your life, how do you recognise His involvement? If you believe He has a purpose for you, how are you discovering that purpose?

These questions force us to move beyond a passive belief in God and towards an active relationship with Him.

The Tough Questions Are Necessary

Perhaps we need to stop asking only, “Does God exist?” and begin asking, “How do I know that I know Him?”

Not merely, “Has God blessed me?” but, “Do I recognise the God who blesses me?”

Not merely, “Has God given me life?” but, “What am I doing with the life He gave me?”

Not merely, “Does God have a plan?” but, “Am I walking in the plan of God?”

Not merely, “Does God speak?” but, “Am I listening?”

Not merely, “Is God great?” but, “Where is His greatness transforming me?”

Not merely, “Is God just?” but, “Do I know the God who is just?”

These questions are necessary because faith should not be reduced to inherited statements that we have never personally examined.

Before You Defend Your God, Examine Your Faith

This is not an invitation to abandon faith. It is an invitation to examine it. A faith that has never been questioned may simply be an inherited belief that has never been personally tested.

Ask yourself: Why do I believe what I believe? What is the foundation of my belief? What evidence do I have? What do I know from Scripture? What do I know through relationship? What has changed in me? How does God communicate with me? How does God guide me? How do I recognise His voice? How do I know when it is God and when it is me? What makes my relationship with God different from simply believing that a God exists?

These are not dangerous questions. They may be some of the most important questions a believer can ask.

Here Is the Question I Want to Leave With You

What has your God actually done for you that makes Him uniquely your God?

If your answer is, “He gave me life,” remember that He gave life to others too. If your answer is, “He gave me health,” remember that others who do not believe in Him may also have health. If your answer is, “He gives me rain,” remember that Jesus said He sends rain on the just and the unjust. If your answer is, “He gives me opportunities,” ask whether opportunity itself is unique to believers. If your answer is, “He blesses me,” ask what you mean by blessing.

Then go deeper.

Do I know Him? Does He communicate with me? Does He guide me? Does He correct me? Does He transform me? Do I know His character? Do I know His Word? Can I recognise His leading? Do I understand His purpose for my life? Is my relationship with Him producing something that cannot be explained merely by chance, circumstance or common human experience?

The Final Provocation

Maybe the question is not simply, “Do you believe in God?” Maybe the better question is:

“What makes you believe that the God you believe in is actually your God?”

Because being just is not the same as being relational. Being good to everyone is not the same as having a personal relationship with someone. Receiving God’s gifts is not necessarily the same as knowing the Giver. And the fact that God gives something to everyone does not automatically prove that you personally know God.

So before you argue with the atheist, before you debate the Muslim, before you challenge the agnostic, before you defend Christianity, before you quote another Bible verse, and before you tell someone else what they should believe, ask yourself first:

What has God done in my life that makes me know Him rather than merely believe in Him?

Do I have God — or do I merely have a belief about God?

And perhaps the hardest question of all:

If everything God has done for me is something He also does for people who do not believe in Him, what exactly is the evidence that I know Him personally?

Think about it.

Question it.

Examine your faith.

Then tell me what you think.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Is God’s justice enough to prove that you know God? What makes your God special to you? What has God done for you that is uniquely connected to your relationship with Him? Can a person believe in God without actually knowing God? How do you distinguish God’s guidance from your own thoughts and desires? If God is relational, what does that relationship look like in your daily life? And if your God is truly great, where can we see His greatness in the person you are becoming?

Agree. Disagree. Challenge the argument. Add your perspective. But don’t just read this and move on. Think deeply. Comment honestly. Share it with someone who needs to ask these questions.