I had a lengthy conversation a few days back with a co-worker while we were traveling to Eugene regarding the existence of God and whether or not we are created beings or that Darwin was correct in his theories of adaptation, evolution, and the “tree of life.”

He asked me how on earth (no pun intended) I could believe that the world came into being by a Creator. So to make a several hour conversation short, I will try to share my thoughts about it here briefly. It began with the word faith… and moved on from there.

I used the example of the locomotive we were riding in. The reason I know that the locomotive was real and created by someone was because there were tangible things I could see and understand that made be believe that the locomotive was built by a creator.

The first tangible item I said was the fact the locomotive had a set of plans. Documentation that explained how it was built… kind of like the Bible in regards to creation. The second reason I knew it was created was the fact that, yes there were many different elements that were involved in the building process, there is no way it could have assembled itself. Even if over time all of the parts were in a warehouse and the winds picked up, I can assure you that it would never put itself together. And thirdly I informed him I can experience the locomotive. I touch its cold hard steel frame, I can see the colors of yellow and red and black and so on, and I hear and smell it. The loud rumble when the huge 4000 horsepower diesel engine turns on and the exhaust fumes spewing from the top.

I explained that creation is exactly the same for me. I have a book that documents the entire creation account from day one to day seven. It tells me how and when all that is created came into existence. I can see creation with my own eyes and hear it with my ears. I see how all the glory of it points to an intelligent designer who must have created it all for a purpose. And lastly, I experience God for myself. I experience Him in my heart and in my mind and in my spirit.

When you look at all the intricacies of the human body and the cells and other parts that make it up, it is impossible to see how we could have ever come from some primordial soup 15 billion years ago. There is absolutely no way that all of the amino acids that form protiens could have ever accumulated in such a way as to even make a protein… let alone the hundreds required to keep one cell going. I am no scientist and I don’t play one on tv so I won’t try to get into the whole science part, but, just after looking around and understanding the science piece, everything tells me that God created the universe and that I suppose it just takes faith.

So after we went back and forth for a few hours… he responded back, “I guess I am too analytical to have that kind of faith. Faith has always been a problem for me…”

Faith is a funny thing sometimes. Paul tells us in Galatians that we live by faith in the Son of God.

So what exactly is faith? How does it work and can I get more of it? The New Believer’s Bible Glossary defines it this way: FAITH; A firm conviction that produces a full acknowledgment of God’s truth; a belief and hope in God and his Word in response to the message of salvation (see John 1:12). Having a certainty in what you hope for even though you may not be able to see it (see Hebrews 11:1-40).

Faith is not just a decision we make with our minds to believe something but a conviction in our entire being that something is true. It starts out small and as time goes on our faith grows because we see the consistencies of God being revealed to us over and over again. And as it grows we just acquire more and more faith in the things of God.

If our knowledge of God is simply head knowledge and analysis then we will not be able to sustain our faith when we encounter various trials that may question whether or not God cares for us or whether or not He was even around during this particular difficulty.

Faith can be a challenge sometimes as well. When we spend our lives daily in His Word getting to know God, our faith will be increased and we can live more fully the way He intended for us to live. As far as those around us… it is hard sometimes to explain this faith to them and all we can do is pray that God turns their heart of stone into a heart of clay one day.