He points himself out

In Sunday school yesterday, the teacher raised the question, "How do you know there is a God?"

There were lots of answers, but several of them centered around the idea of looking around us and seeing God in nature -- in the beauty of a sunset, in the loveliness of the mountains or the amazing process of birth.

I understand what they were saying, and I don't disagree with it, but I think there is more. Imagine if God were the kind of God who created nature, as beautiful as it is, and then left it to run, without him. The sunset would be just as beautiful, but chances are, we wouldn't see God in it. I think without God, and his active presence in our lives, we would never see him in the beauty of that which is around us. We would never see God in the feeding of a person who has no food, or in the hug that warms the heart of a child who is afraid and alone. We would see what is in front of us, but we would never connect it to God.

We know about God because he points himself out ot us. When the sun rises, and we look at it, we know it is beautiful on our own, but we know it is God because of prevenient grace.

We know about God because he continually makes himself known to us.