Finding God... in Your Curiosity

Have you ever been hunting for something you weren’t sure existed? It may seem foolish. But you can be glad that several important scientists kept following their feeling that there was something yet to discover:

· Thomas Edison was confident in something he hadn’t quite seen yet: the ability to channel electricity in a long-lasting bulb.

· Alexander Fleming knew he was onto something when he discovered bacteria did not grow near Penicillin mold, and he kept hunting for ways to isolate it for medicinal purposes.[1]

· Isaac Newton knew that gravity was out there, even before he could quite define it.

· Henri Becquerel knew he was searching for something, but not quite sure what. As he experimented with phosphorescence, he discovered radioactivity.[2]

Each of these scientists knew there was something there, even if they didn’t know quite what it was.[3]

The Bible says, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” NIV Hebrews 11:1 The fact that we are grappling towards something unseen provides a clue to its existence.

We see signs of God all around us:

· Our sense of wonder

· The beauty of the natural world

· Our deepest yearnings

· Even art and mathematics point to someone there.

This doesn’t mean that everything we search for exists, but it does provide clues. When we’re responsibly following our creative intuition, the yearning itself actually provides evidence that something is there.[3]

C. S. Lewis points out, “'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud.”[4]

Christopher West believes that even sexual desires hint at the existence of God. In his book, Fill These Hearts, he explains, "Sex hints at the infinite and is meant to point us to it and even allow us to participate in it. But it seems we often mistake the hint for the reality hinted at. And when we take our desire for Infinite and try to satisfy it with something finite, we are always left wanting."[5]

West believes that “sexual morality is all about learning how to aim our desire for heaven toward heaven.” Our sexual desires are ultimately a longing for God, and our inability to fully satisfy these desires on earth points to an eternal, infinite fulfillment.

How does your yearning and curiosity about God actually point to God’s existence?

[1] The Discovery of Penicillin—New Insights After More Than 75 Years of Clinical Use [2] Becquerel discovers radioactivity [3] Loving to Know by Esther Lightcap Meek

[4] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

[5] Christopher West, Fill These Hearts, pg 28