Why I Believe in God when His Existence Can't Be Proven

As a Christian, I am sometimes asked why I believe in God when there's no proof of His existence. It is a fair question, but I always laugh inwardly whenever I hear it. You see, the Christian God is not interested in proving His existence. In fact, He is determined that his existence remain unprovable. This might seem odd at first glance, considering that He actually wants people to know He exists. However, as the Bible states, "...It is impossible to please God without faith."(Hebrews 11:6 NLT) and if God could be proven, faith would be unnecessary.

Don't get me wrong, it would make affirming God's existence a no-brainer if he could be logically proven. Many great minds have set out to do that very thing and, from Aristotle to Anselm to Descartes to Plantinga, there have been some truly admirable attempts. However, it is my opinion that these attempts are misguided. Why would you try to prove God's existence when he has made it clear that He desires faith?

So to answer the original question as to why I believe in God despite the lack of logical proof for His existence, my answer would be that I believe in Him because He has been merciful to me. My belief in God is nothing that I can take credit for, since it is not a belief I would ever hold in and of myself. God, in His mercy, placed a need for me to know Him within me. I did nothing to deserve this, and many times I have wondered what God could have seen in me that would make Him interested in me.

Now, just because God has been merciful to me and drew me to Him does not mean faith is easy. Faith is actually quite difficult. To use Soren Kierkagaard's word, belief is "absurd". How could God become a man(Jesus)? How could He die? How could God raise Him from the dead? How could God gestate inside a woman for nine months? Yes, much about faith is absurd in the human sense, but God is aware of this. 1 Corinthians 1:18 states, "I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds..."(NLT).

So if I am considered stupid for believing in God, I don't mind. God Himself said that people would think that about me. He has never let me down, so it is a small price to pay.