God Is Real

Those who please God “must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”* (Hebrews 11:6) It is not everyone that implicitly believes at all times that God is. In the midst of sore trial some forget that He is. One precious secret of happiness in the Christian life is always to know that God is and that He is a rewarder to those who diligently seek Him.

God is with His people in every little affair of everyday life. “In him we live, and move, and have our being.”* (Acts 17:28) These words have great depth. They imply a close walk with God. Let me ask you to turn to this text and read it. Oh, how highly significant are the words, “For we are also his offspring”* (Acts 17:28)! God will care for His children. Then, let us trust Him; live upon Him and in Him by faith.

We need not have a care nor a fear. We need not be troubled about what we shall wear or what we shall eat. Jesus Himself tells us that we should take no thought about what we shall eat. To have us comprehend something of His care in feeding us and of how free we can be from any anxious thought about such things, He tells us to take a lesson from the birds of the air. “Behold,” He says, “the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”* (Matthew 6:26) He does not say “their heavenly Father,” but it is “your heavenly Father” that feeds the little birds. He is simply their Creator, but He is your Father. A man may create a machine; but there is a vast difference between the relationship of the man to the machine and that of the man to the child of whom he is the father. A man owns a flock of hens and goes out to feed them, but will he not much more feed that child of his standing by his side? Oh! how can you ever become anxious about what you are going to eat and look unto man for help? Look to God, and to Him alone. He hears the young ravens when they cry, and will He not hear your cry?

Jesus at another time in His endeavors to teach His disciples that the Father constantly cared for them and that they should not therefore ever have a fear, said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”* (Matthew 10:29) You will notice that He again says, “your Father,” not “their Father.” It is your Father that cares for the tiny sparrows so that not one falls, except as He in His loving providence sees best.

Sometimes you can purchase two apples for a penny, but if you take two pennies’ worth you can get five. Thus, the fifth one costs really nothing. Luke, in recording what Jesus said to His disciples about God’s care of them, says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? and not one of them is forgotten before God.”* (Luke 12:6) By taking two farthings’ worth they could get five sparrows. This fifth one, which was “thrown in,” was not forgotten before God. If such is His care of His creatures of time, what must be His care of His child of eternity? Why, “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”* (Luke 12:7) The mother has great care for her child, but where is the mother that daily counts the hairs on her baby’s head to learn when one has fallen? God in His care for His children numbers the hairs on their heads. “Fear not therefore.”* (Matthew 10:31) Our Father keeps us as the apple of His eye. He is ever guiding, guarding, and leading those who put their trust in Him. His leadings may sometimes be over stony places, but in His love He does that which is best. I know not the author of the following lines, but they are so beautiful I beg to be allowed to give them here.

“Not always into quiet ways
He leadeth thee;
Not always in the peaceful days
Shall thy lot be;
But whether He send toil or rest,
Know that His way is always best
Eternally.

“Trust thou the Lord with simple heart,
Nor wish to know
More than His Spirit would impart
Or His word show,
Plain the commandments He has given,
Narrow the path which leads to heaven;
Then onward go.

“Firm be thy footstep all the way,
Turn not aside;
His precious word keep and obey,
Rightly divide;
Fear not to tread a darksome road,
For He will share thy heaviest load
And safely guide.

“Until at last He bringeth thee,
All sorrows past,
Where thou shalt never sorrow see—
Home, home at last;
Then shalt thou, entering into rest,
Own that His way was always best
From first to last.”

A sister in my home congregation recently had this experience: She, with her three small children, had gone to a distant state to visit her friends. On her return journey she came into a large city soon after nightfall. She could not get a train out of the city to her home before the next morning. She had written ahead to a friend of hers to meet her at the station and to take her to his home to spend the night. But he failed to come, and she was left alone in this large city.

At first she was much perplexed, but remembering her God, she said: “Now, Lord, I know Thou art real. I am Thy child, and I am in need of help. I look to Thee; be Thou my helper.”

At this moment a lady, approaching her said, “You appear to be a stranger here.”

“I am alone with my children and know no one,” the sister replied.

The lady then asked her to tarry there for a moment and said she would soon return. In a short time she came back with two other ladies. After inquiring more about the sister’s circumstances they invited her to go with them. She was a little suspicious at first, but believing it was God answering prayer, she went confidently on. They took her to a hotel, ordered a room, supper, and breakfast for her and her children, and paying the bill, went on their way. This was an instance of God’s caring for those who trust in Him.

I could fill a large volume with instances of God’s proving Himself to be a real and living God, but I will relate only one more. It occurred only three weeks ago. A brother was in need, and he prayed God to supply the need. One day he received a letter. Upon opening it, he found that it contained a gold dollar, and a letter which read thus: “I have owed you seventy-five cents for four years. The other night as I lay awake, I remembered my debt. I had a great desire to send the money to you at once, but I was not the possessor of five cents. Early the next morning, as I was walking across my field, I saw somtthing shining. On picking it up, I found it to be a gold dollar, which I now send to you.”

To have a closer walk with God is to be ever conscious that God is always really with you, just as if you could see Him and hear His voice. Suppose some dark night a number of wicked men should gather about your home to do you harm and Jesus should appear in your room so that you could see Him and should speak so that you could hear Him saying, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”* (Hebrews 13:5) You would in a feeling of security lie back upon your pillow and say, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”* (Hebrews 13:6) Now, He is in your room and does say those words to you as really as if you saw Him and heard Him. Make God real to you in everything in life, and your walk with Him will be sweet.