I know God must exist. But I'm still workin on the faith part. If I died today, would God have mercy on me?

Question

I hope everyone understands what I mean. I'm 17 years old, and so everything that's thrown into me from school and nonbelievers inevitibly leads me to questions sometimes. So my faith is not 100%. I still have questions that I need answered, even though I know God must exist. I have moments where I feel him, and others when I can't. So if I died today, would God have mercy on my soul and let me into His kingdom?

Answer 1

I'd like to share something with you in hopes it doesn't take you 44 yrs like it did me :)

What I am about to say may sound ridiculous or hypocritical to some but if this touches only one person, whether they answer here or not, be now or next year, I'm happy.

I grew up with what they now call witchcraft. In my day, there was no word for it, it just was. Back 30-40 yrs ago, "witchcraft" had to be hidden and the easiest way was hiding behind another religion. My mother chose Catholic. Catholic church, Catholic school, baptism, first communion, confirmation, the whole works. Now this can make a person crazy growing up this way, very confused to say the least. Anyway, I never knew I was lost, thought I had it all figured out........ I'm talking for 40 yrs here folks! Well, one day, VERY recently, while my life was at one of it very lows, I drove by a church, Baptist as a matter of fact. Something made me stop and walk right in those doors. I saw people happy, singing, belonging, believing and I found myself wishing I could have that and I started to cry, quietly, but nonstop. As I listened to the pastor talk, nothing damning, no fire and brimstone, just a calm, collected man telling a story with the ability to show how that story fits into my life, I swear he was talking to me, I just knew it, he must be psychic, how else could he know these things? I’d never seen him in my life! Towards the end of the service, the pastor asked if there was anyone who needed something in their life……anyone at all, no one was looking, everyone had their head bowed. I didn’t want to walk up there, I am NOT a hypocrite, I don’t believe in all this stuff, it was beyond my comprehension to believe in a book that was so obviously made up, just stories to scare people into conformity …….. before I realized it, I was standing in front of the pastor. He asked me what the trouble was and my words to him were,”I’ve tried everything else in this life and nothing’s working. I need help, I need something to believe in.” He guided me to a place to kneel and I did, still crying of course. A woman knelt beside me and asked me if I was ready to accept Jesus into my heart, I wasn’t sure, I didn’t know, I felt like a hypocrite but from somewhere inside me a light came on, it was dim, just a speck, but it was there. I didn’t feel woozy or like a weight was lifted, I didn’t immediately win the lotto, my household was still crazy and I was still a jerk but the spark was there. Every Sunday I’d go to church to hear more and every Sunday I drove the pastor and others crazy with my questions and fears. A couple Sundays ago I was baptized…. Crying again of course….. I’m not talking sprinkled here people, I was dunked …. a bit afraid the water would boil, but I did it. Finally, I truly belong, I actually have something to believe in and now I don’t have to go thru this crazy life alone. My life is no different than it was before I walked through those doors, I’m still poor and I’m still a jerk but the difference is that now, through all the craziness, I have God to lean on for support. Going to church will not save me, being baptized will not save me, what will save me is my faith that I will be saved and my service to God. What my true service is remains to be seen, maybe this is it, reaching those who are where I have been, I don’t know but I do know this, God is my father and I trust him.

Answer 2

The faith part will probably never be 100%. From the Catholic Christian standpoint, you're *supposed* to be questioning you faith -- all the time -- because it helps you grow in it and understand it better. I'm 16, by the way.

Everyone still has questions about God. (One that I can never seem to get around is that if God is all powerful, can He make a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it? Hehe. =D) I have struggled with my own faith, but I'm at the point now where I believe that God exists -- it's just my task to figure out why sometimes it doesn't *feel* like it, as you say.

Anyways, if you were to die today, God would certainly understand that you are questioning your faith -- its a natural process that everyone should go through. And I like to think that God would judge a person based on strength of character and morals.

Answer 3

Don't worry, you are still young. If you really want to become religious you will. To get there fast, just have faith in the irrational, the illogical and accept the contradictory and seemingly insane explanations of your favorite religious bigot. Follow your instincts. If you are a violent and greedy kind of person, watch the 700 club for advice on murdering democratically elected national leaders and ripping off their countries of their oil.
If you love sex, then go for the 72 virgins in heaven brand of religion and murder someone for God.
How do you know God must exist? Because someone told you so? Do you think that a different God would exist if you had been born into a different country, a different culture, or at a different time? Do you think that you might have even believed the world was flat or the Earth was the center of the universe?
Sure you would. And all you have to do is stop thinking and turn your brain over to one persuasive bigot.

Answer 4

Praise God. Chances are if you live to 100 your faith won't be 100%. It is somehing we all need to continually work at. If you are questioning things with God then that's a great thing - it means you are taking it seriously. There is no doubt that if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then there is a place waiting for you in Heaven when your time comes. In the mean time, seek out a wise Christian mentor or 2 and ask the questions that are causing you to doubt. I pray that over time your faith will mature and you will find Godly people who can help you answer the questions you have. But sometimes we just don't get answers this side of Heaven (see Deut. 29.29)

B

Answer 5

Most intelligent people do not have blind faith.

Believing there is something out there higher than ourselves is something good to believe in. Wheather you call that power God or Buddah, or Alah doesn't matter.

You are right to question the Bible and other written teachings of any religion. Why were they written and who were they written by? The Bible was written at a time when the church was the authority and it was written as a way to tell people how to live. Its better to tell someone that God commanded something than "Bishop Dane" said so. Because if it were written as saying "We the church say this and say that" when the people died off, people would stop believing and stop following. But if God says so, then it must be true and since God is eternal God is still in charge.

Believing in a higher power does not mean you have to have blind faith in all else. I think there are always going to be some mysteries we aren't supposed to know. But we are always supposed to be learning and growing. So don't beat yourself up for not having blind faith in something that you have questions about.

Answer 6

If you have questions sometimes of God's existence then that means that part of you is not really sure that He really does exist. The Bible says that before you come to God you must first believe that He is( that He does exist). The Bible also says "Without faith it is impossible to please God". So if you don't have 100% faith that God exists then you cannot be pleasing to him and if you are not pleasing to him then you cannot enter heaven. But God being who He is will answer your questions for the simple fact He will not allow you to be ignorant concerning His existence when you really want the truth. The Bible says "Seek and you will find". Ask God to show you that He is real and He will show you. I believe that your desire is pure and that once you find that He is real then you will accept him as your Lord and Savior. God knows your heart; and the good thing about you is at least you are seeking the truth about God rather than totally discounting his existence like so many others.

Answer 7

Faith is believing He will have mercy on you if you die today and whole heartedly believing it. Unfortunately, being young it is hard to see. The more character building experiences you go through where at the time you don't understand, but later come to an understanding of what God intended and realize it was what was best for you, the more your faith builds. At least that is the way it worked for me.

I have told my daughter, when you feel lost and alone, sit quiet and very silent and just listen. If you hear the wind blowing through the trees, that is God whispering to you. He is all around you at all times.
God bless.

Answer 8

if you were numb from the waist down and were sitting in a chair and could not feel it, would it still be holding you up?....thats what faith is, it is there holding you up through the difficult times in your life even when you cannot feel it, sometimes that is when it's the closest to us, those times when life hands us something that we just do'nt think we will make it..if you call upon God and believe in his son Jesus and that he gave his life so that when you do die u will live forever then yes God will have mercy on your soul and welcome you into his kingdom...as far as the "feeling" goes..well..at 17 you have a ways to go in life yet and you will feel good times, sad times and yes probably even some numb times when u can't feel a thing...but He is always there holding u up, just like that chair i bet u are still sitting upon....God bless you

Answer 9

"My" God does not show me mercy, because my God does not hold me to anything that needs mercy. My God has no use for the concept of "sin". It is not a matter of me getting to heaven, but rather of putting heaven into me. "Faith" is not an intellectual thing; it is a feeling. God and me have the same Kingdom or better put have the same sphere... no need for Kings. God is Love & that's all there is. All else is but an illusion.

RICHARD

Answer 10

I have faith..but what I've had to work on is something called ABSOLUTE TRUST. I don't think I'll ever get there. I spend a lot of my time hoping that God knows what the heck is going on...because I sure has heck don't know. All I can do today is try to be the person I can be.. Not hurt other people.. emotionally verbally.. etc.. It's not easy for humans to let go of the control over our destinies. What I hate is that what ever is around the corner for me is none of my business... It's Gods.. Hard to leave it all up to him..