Have you ever seen a bear? I mean somewhere other than the zoo, the circus or in a picture book? The ranchers and wranglers told us there were black bears in the area and we might see one. I got so excited. I wanted to see a bear. I can’t explain it. I wanted to take a picture of a bear in the wild. Keep in mind; I have a zoom lense for my camera, so I didn’t necessarily want to get up close and personal. I just wanted a picture of one.
We looked every time we went on a ride. We found evidence of a bear. The evidence caused us to sit up and pay attention. In fact, my family decided they didn’t care if we never saw a bear. We saw claw markings on trees and they were deep and looked painful. But we didn’t see a bear.
We heard lots of stories of bears coming to the ranch, walking in the dining hall during a meal, and so forth. My personal favorite story is of the rancher waking up from a nap and walking into his kitchen to see a bear sitting on his rear on an antique rug eating a cantaloupe. Can you imagine? Who comes into your house and just helps themselves to your food? How rude!
Many people choose not to believe in God because they can’t see Him. They have a hard time picturing Him in their mind; therefore, they say He isn’t real. There is evidence of God all around us. Miracles take place daily and we’ll see them if we’re looking for them. Nature alone screams of the existence of God and yet people still refuse to believe in Him.
We also hear stories of God and the things He has done in other’s lives. Sometimes those stories are all it takes to turn a heart to God. Your testimony is important and should be shared when you have opportunity because you never know when God is going to use it to change the heart of another. It doesn’t always have to be about how you came to Christ. It could be what He has done recently in your life. Your story serves as proof of His existence in the world today. It’s your personal story, not some refutable fact. Don’t be afraid to share. Jesus told the Pharisees if His disciples didn’t testify about Him the rocks would cry out [Luke 19:40]. He is there. Let’s don’t make the rocks do our job.
I remember being invited to speak at a chapel for a Christian school on September 11th. My topic was the omnipresence of God. Try teaching that to a bunch of elementary school students. God knew what we would all need to hold onto that day. He gave me a phrase to teach the children to help them remember He was real and present in their lives, even if they couldn’t touch Him or see Him. “Just like air, God is there!” No one argues over the existence of air, but they can’t see it. They see evidence of its existence, thus they believe it is real. They hear stories about how death comes when air isn’t present. The same is true of the Lord. Wherever He isn’t, death is.
I never saw my bear, but I know he was in the forest around me. I saw evidence over and over and I heard stories. It made a believer out of me. Share your story with others. You never know when it will be the path that leads them to Jesus.