As a Christian, do you really believe in God?

Have you ever noticed, at times, those who claim to be Christians actually believe in God less than those who claim to be anything but a Christian? I heard a story about how a church was meeting regularly to pray for the closing of a strip club next door. The owner of the club was aware of this and when lightning struck his building, burning it to the ground, he sued the church. While in court, the judge listened to each side argue about what had happened and he struck his gavel and said, "I can't believe what I'm hearing. In my court room I have the pastor of a church saying that prayer doesn't work while the owner of a strip club says it does."

I don't know if this is a true story, but I don't think it matters because the message is loud and clear. Christians believe in God when it makes sense and at times choose to forget about Him when it doesn't. Sometimes, often times, non-Christians believe in God more than those who devote their life to Him.

I had an athlete approach me about another athlete needing prayer. In fact, this individual asked the first athlete if she could ask me to pray for her and her friend who was in critical condition. She's not a Christian and has been open about being agnostic and/or atheist. But she asked me to pray for her? Why? She doesn't believe in prayer, right? Well, I did pray. I wasn't certain on how to pray, so I basically prayed that she would see that God is real in the midst of this situation. If I'm honest, I was little scared to pull out the healing prayer at that time because I didn't want to use up any favor God might have for me down the line, as if it's a coupon or something with limits. Pathetic, I know. If I wasn't aware of my lack of faith in that situation already, God hit me even harder when this individual sent me a thoughtful message thanking me for my thoughts and prayers. She explained that her friend had recovered very quickly and was in good condition, nearly healed. She believed in God's ability to heal her friend more than I did? I'm the Christian; she's not. Why did she trust God in that situation before I did, especially considering she doesn't even know if He exists?

Here's another one...two nights ago, around 2:00 a.m., Isaiah woke up and hollered, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" I went into his room to check on him and he was sitting up in his bed (this doesn't happen much). He said he wasn't tired and wanted me to lay by him. So, of course, I did. As we started laying back, he pointed across the room and said, "tell that guy to go away." Confused, I said, "what guy?" "That guy over there," he pointed towards the rocking chair. "There's no one over there, buddy." "Yeah, there is. Over there. That guy. Tell him to go away." So I went over to the rocking chair, scared out of my mind, by the way, and moved my arms around and said, "see there's no one over here." I went back to lay with him and he told me the guy was sitting down in the rocking chair. I was really, really scared. I started praying like crazy. I told God I was really scared and I asked Him to protect our house and assured Him I was aware of His promises to answer calls like this. Still, I was scared. I'll add, the lighting was kind of creepy, too. We laid there for a few minutes until Isaiah fell back asleep and I left his room with my heart racing. No way was I going to tell Liz what Isaiah had said at 2:00 a.m. She would have freaked. Later, the garbage truck woke Isaiah up before Liz left for work, so we all got to talk about that moment together at 7:00 a.m. We asked what Isaiah saw and he said, "it wasn't anything. It was just clothes." There were clothes hanging over the arms of the rocking chair. Without regard for what he just said, Liz asked what the guy looked like. Isaiah said he had a brown face and rubbed his own cheeks and chin, almost like he was imagining a beard. Crazy...

I'm not going to read into that situation much and I've tried to push some of it out of my mind. I don't believe in ghosts and don't think our house is haunted. I do believe in angels, though. I believe there is a heavenly realm that is active and real. Liz told this story to a few others and one of her co-workers (a non-church goer) said, "maybe it was God just passing through." Of course. What was I thinking? Why was I scared? It could have been something entirely holy, if it was anything at all. I'm the Christian, right? Why would I make the assumption it was anything BUT God? I know this is why God and the angels always introduce themselves with the premise, "don't be frightened..." I was frightened. And I just saw clothes hanging on the rocking chair.

I'm always miffed when non-Christians believe in God, and the things of God, more than Christians do. More than I do. What is it about me that creates that instantaneous doubt? If we try to deny and hide from God, He can be very, very scary. However, if we move towards Him and accept the things of Him, He's very comforting. Why would I do anything besides move in His direction? God is real. The things of God are real and His promises are real.