Can non-believers ever find religion?

Question

I was raised in a good christian home, accepted God into my heart at a young age, then got reallllllly into church and God when I was about 13. Then I just lost all faith. Now, almost 19 years old, I have zero belief in God. I respect religion, but I can't help but see it as a hoax. As something man created to better society. It makes perfect sense to me. My life was so good, sooo good, when I believed in Christ. Everything made sense, I wanted to live a good life, I wanted to help people etc. Since I stopped believing my life has been a crazy mess. I'm depressed and just messed up in general. I'm sick of it and I want God in my life, but I don't think I'll ever be able to accept it because deep down I feel it's all lies. Help?

Answer 1

Do you see where you're blessed? You're searching. That's the beginning. Good luck and God bless you. I'll pray for you. I've been where you are.

Answer 2

I'm at about the same spot at the moment and can only tell you what others have told me ... step out in faith and see where it leads you ... start praying again, dust off that bible and listen to worship music. Maybe even get some Christian books on how God has worked in other peoples lives. Some of my favorites are "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom and "Coming Clean: The True Story of a Cocaine Drug Lord and His Unexpected Encounter with God" by Jorge Valdes

As for Fireballs post (the 1st post) It's ignorant judgements like this that turn people away ... NOBODY can know anothers heart and experience with God.

Answer 3

I became a Christian at 18, and an atheist at 33,
give or take a year.
And yes, I understand how the believing, and the tight-knit social community can make things seem good, secure and comfortable.

When I was contemplating leaving Christianity, I enquired of those I dared at my church, how they handled doubt. About a third said they did not actually believe, but said they did and behaved accordingly, in order to maintain what they valued, their place in the community. I could not do that.

And yes, that means facing a more lonely and uncertain world, in some respects. It may depend on your personality, but I can't buy into something I now see as, at core, not what it claims to be no matter how attractive and comforting the picture it paints.
I'll buy truth, even if it comes with sharp edges.
With you, I wouldn't mind being convinced, if I genuinely could be. But even the Christians should agree that honesty is not something one should give up.

(Oh, and fireball, mine was)

Answer 4

ban: The reality of God can be attained to through spirituality - a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ. When you enter into this relationship, "religion" dissipates with the doubt and feelings of it as a "lie". The reality of God can only be internalized when this relationship is established. Feelings do not lead to rational thought but relationship will promote an inner change [conversion] with the aid of the Holy Spirit to "teach you all things". Ask Jesus Christ to establish this relationship with you and you will come to see that your feelings of in-acceptance are really the "lie" - not the relationship. I take it that you have been out in this world for a while and have come to the conclusion that something is wrong with this picture from your experiences with it [world]. The glitter which this world presents is not too wonderful after all, and you find yourself feeling "bankrupt" - empty
inside. God is in the saving business and wants for you to come to Him ... the question is - will you ? This is your decision to make and remember, God cares for you !!!

Answer 5

Your story is simular to mine. I also drifted away from God from the age of 12 until I was 34. But I always believed in God, I just loved sin too much to give it up for Him. But through the grace of God, I finally came to my senses and realized that sin was not ultimately worth eternal damnation away from the presence of God. I could feel the pull of God all along, and, praise God, He granted me repentance. Now I have the capacity to have grace with others because so many of our stories are simular. I don't know the specifics about how you've come to feel that Christianity is all lies, whether it's hypocricy in the Church, or if the enemy has somehow convinced you of this, but let me encourage you to consider Jesus once again, ask him to make Himself real to you once again. The last thing you need is religion. God wants relationship and fellowship with you. This is part of His call, you even asking for help, and others responding to you in godly love. Put the unbelief behind you and step into life, into the light of God. He is anxiously waiting. I feel His love for you even as I am writing this. God bless.

Answer 6

It is not religion that you need to find but a real experience with Jesus. Religious order may disappoint you and you may lose faith, but a REAL meeting with Jesus will never do that. Just pray and say God if you really are for real, help me to understand. God understands every thought that you have and he understands all things and if you travail and ask from the depths of your heart and soul, you will get an answer.

Answer 7

You can be happy without God.

Take antidepressants, see a psychiatrist, or maybe, look on the brighter side of things! *gasp*

I used to be pretty depressed, having social anxiety and being, essentially, unable to talk to anyone without sounding like a babbling mess...but all it took was to force myself to do more interactive activities, force myself to be optimistic about things, and appreciate the small things in life. And I have a sense of pride, being able to better myself on my own without any...supernatural help.

However, if you truly think that the only way for you to be happy is to believe in God, then maybe you can look at the websites trying to prove God's existence. They usually have some pretty good points that are hard for an atheist to debate. And the best thing for you to do is to have faith. Maybe God's testing your will, or something. :)

However, I do think it is really important for people to learn how to rely on themselves and how to better themselves without depending on others to help them out. I believe that is a very important part of growing as a human being...so I suggest that you try finding yourself and discovering what it takes to make your life happy again, before you come to the crushing possibility that religion might not make things better (maybe it will--I don't know you. But you shouldn't have religion as the only thing in this world keeping you happy).

Answer 8

The Bible does warn us about the danger of endlessly ignoring God and leaving Him out of our lives: "A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy" (Proverbs 29:1). These are solemn words and you should take them very seriously.

But the fact that you are concerned about your spiritual situation tells me there's still hope for you. The person in the most danger spiritually is the one who feels no need of God, and is unconcerned about his or her spiritual condition. That person's heart has become so callused and so hardened that they can no longer hear God's voice convicting them of their sin and calling them to repent and turn to Christ.

The most important thing I can tell you, however, is that God loves us and is ready to forgive anyone who truly repents and trusts Christ as their Lord and Savior. No matter what you've done, God still loves you and wants you to be part of His family forever. Jesus' words are for you: "My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life" (John 6:40).

Don't stay on your present road any longer; it will never give you the happiness and peace you seek. Instead, by a simple prayer of faith confess your sins to God and ask Christ to come into your life. Your life can be different—beginning today.

DOUBT
God wants us to trust Him completely and totally—and when we doubt, we aren't trusting Him as we should. The Bible warns that the person who constantly doubts God and fails to trust Him "is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does" (James 1:8).

At the same time, God understands our doubts, and the most important thing I can tell you is that He wants to take them away and increase our faith. Do you remember Thomas, who was one of Jesus' closest disciples? When others told him that Jesus had been raised from the dead after His crucifixion, Thomas refused to believe it. He declared, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it" (John 20:25).

How did Jesus respond? He didn't rebuke Thomas or tell him just to have more faith. Instead, Jesus came to him and showed him that He was alive. The response was immediate: "Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!'" (John 20:28). Tradition says Thomas became an evangelist and preached the Gospel as far as India.

When doubts come, don't let them take root in your soul. Instead, turn them over to Christ. Most of all, saturate your heart and mind every day with the truths of God's Word, the Bible. Satan will try to turn you away, but in Christ "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19).

Answer 9

Atheism is defined as “the absence of belief in god/gods.” Anything beyond that definition is open for belief by an atheist, including life after death, even religion! For example, Buddhism does not recognize a creator god, but Nirvana

Yes, I know. The label "Atheist" seems too broad for many of us

Answer 10

I am living proof sweety. I am 24 now and reverted to islam when I was 19. All I can say is Allah is lord, and all is in HIS hands. I was formerly agnostic with no knowledge about allah. Now I "know" that Allah is lord. But islam will be abhored by many. Since embracing islam, I have learned about other religions also. Not liked by many muslims, but I am "one" whom submits to the will of allah inshallah. But islam on a whole is one with the foundation that is the qu'ran alhumdulillah. I have read the bible since embracing islam and after that will never believe in christianuty. There are christians whom have not even read the bible. After reading the book of stories, I wonder how do people come up with some of the things they do.

I can help you with kind words, but it may not be liked by some(maybe even you). When people say that GOD works in mysterious ways, it is no lie "at all". You have a whole life ahead of you and I know not what Allah has planned for you alhumdulillah. I can tell you that jesus is not GOD if that helps in any way. Blasphemous to many, but I can not see how. If you need kind words, feel free to email, IM me, or visit my 360 page.

Salaam(peace)!

Answer 11

Stop the RELIGION thing and get a personal relationship with God. That will require that you

Walk the talk