Why Follow God?

Written by Jessi Drost

Verse: 1 Peter 1:8 Song: In Christ Alone

How can you trust something you do not see?

Stated also, why do you guys follow God? How do you know your God is real? Who says Jesus exists and the god’s of other cultures don’t?

Oh what big questions…

These questions used to trip me up. I didn’t know how to answer. I could pull out truth from the Bible, but if someone doesn’t believe the Bible is truth, how would that help? I could dig into research, proving Jesus did indeed die on the cross and rise again, but does that answer the questions that are really being asked? The question we all have deep within our hearts at times. “Can I really trust in God? Will He really show up for me in my time of desperation? Is it worth giving my life to someone I cannot see?

It is. And I finally know how to answer these questions. With our testimony.

"You love him even though you have never seen him. 
Though you do not see him now, you trust him; 
and you rejoice with glorious inexpressible joy."
1 Peter 1:8 (NLT)

God isn’t a genie in a bottle, and prayer isn’t meant as a way to gain our every selfish desire. But believe me when I say He listens, He answers, He directs, He provides, and He comforts.

How do I know? Because time and time again in our lives, He’s proven himself trustworthy. And now He’s asking us to share those stories of His faithfulness with you.

God’s Faithfulness

Our first, “wait, what just happened?!” moment is so special to us. We were just over a year married, and were both attending grad school down in Georgia. We were new Christians, truthfully though still living for ourselves. All of a sudden, a desire like never before hit us to have a baby. I’d dream of little baby hands and feet, tear up watching a Dad play with his son at the farmers market, stop and gaze at the baby clothes at the store… Oh our hearts craved to have a child! We laughed it off, knowing it was not the best time to have a baby. Besides, I was told for the past 5 years I wouldn’t be able to carry children. According to doctors, my long battle with anorexia had damaged my reproductive system indefinitely. We were planning to one day adopt. I have to admit, not once did we seek God’s counsel on any of it. We made our own decision, and moved on.

You can imagine our shock then when 6 months later, the two pink lines appeared. I stood in the bathroom, hand over my stomach, in complete awe and excitement. It was indeed possible for me to get pregnant! You see, from the time I could talk I wanted to be a Momma. I’d carry around baby dolls everywhere that I went, play Mommy to everything, and couldn’t wait to one day have my own family to care for. But with every doctor who told me it wouldn’t happen for me, I let that desire grow distant. Now though, now my dreams were coming back to life! Oh God, what a gift!

And in this moment, our faith grew.

Oh, you of little faith. God had it all figured out!

Once the excitement died off, we entered the next phase. How on earth would we pay for all of this? Ultrasounds, doulas, midwives, carseats, diapers… Babies don’t really need clothes, right? The overwhelm and angst started to grow bigger than the excitement, and this blessing that was so special to us began to grow heavy. We started to doubt if God really knew what he was doing.

The blessings began to pour in. Generous gifts from family and friends. Support from our church family and mentors. A healthy pregnancy that did not require any additional procedures. A last minute opening to deliver at the Atlanta Birth Center. Things were all lining up; God was providing. But the cost of the birth itself loomed over us. We didn’t have the money, and it needed to be paid in full before I was 36 weeks along.

Days before that 36 week mark, my “God’s going to provide” mentality started to waiver. Doubt was moving in. Before school that Thursday morning, I let Wyatt know of my worries. He nonchalantly said, “God will make it happen”, and signaled that it was time to leave. My response as we went out the door, “money doesn’t grow on trees! Do we expect it just to fall out of the sky?!”

We were sharing a car at the time, as Wyatt was in a motorcycle accident a few months prior and we were unable to cover the cost of repairs. The driver who hit him was fully at fault, and was a dealership worker in a dealership car. Wyatt had spoken to the manager of the facility after the accident, asking if they would cover the cost of repairs, but we had never heard back. I wish I could explain the shock when we got home that evening, and found a check from the dealership in the mail. Months later, without hearing a word from them, they decided to cover the cost of repairs. That check came on the very day I began to lose hope. The amount of money provided on that check, was of course the exact amount we needed to pay the remainder of our birth off.

And in this moment, our faith grew.

In Christ alone, my hope is found.

This was the first moment we truly recognized the power of God working in our lives. Not to say of course he wasn’t working in our lives all along, but for two new believers, this moment was monumental. It changed our walk with the Lord!

And to think, it would only be the first of many times God stepped in when all else seemed hopeless…

Thank you Lord for your provision. Thank you for your compassion and your care. Thank you for showing us time and time again that in you we can trust! I pray that you would use these words to grow faith in others, and that we would always remember to turn to you in our times of angst, and in our times of celebration. It's in you and you alone that we place our trust.

Amen