You Cannot Comprehend God.
Why do you even try?
There’s a certain arrogance in Man that drives him to believe that he can understand every single thing that he perceives around him.
This drive is not necessarily a bad thing.
It is this “arrogance”, this relentless curiosity, that has led Man to invent mind-blowing technology, create next-level innovations, and make discoveries that have shaped his understanding of the universe.
It is what has pushed him to explore, reach, and defy astonishing physical, mental, and psychological heights.
His intelligence puts him far above every other living creature.
But what if… just what if… this comprehension ability of Man had a limit?
What if there are things, ideas, and mysteries that are far beyond the intellectual capacity of this restless organ called the human brain?
What if, despite all of Man’s “knowledge” and “achievements”, he was simply nothing more than a tiny, insignificant fragment in an infinitely larger network of wisdom?
A wisdom that is so vast and so incomprehensible that his mind, no matter how hard it tries, could never fully grasp it?
What if Man with his giant cities, towering buildings, and weapons of mass destruction, was not as important as he thought?
What if there was Someone, a Being, that was supreme to man in every way possible, and Man, conscious of it or not, was subject to His every will and caprice?
What happens then?
How Would Man React?
Would he outrightly dismiss this Being’s existence as impossible, clinging to his so-called “knowledge” and scoffing at the idea that an Intelligence could exist that was beyond his reasoning?
If Man did believe that this Being existed, would he question His every move and demand explanations for His every action?
Would Man realise how inconsequential his existence must be to such a powerful Being?
Who even is this “Man”?
Who is Man, that he believes that he deserves to understand all the mysteries of the universe?
“Man”: This mortal creature, who falls sick, gets tired, and could die at any moment, without a prior warning.
This Man who did not create the world or create himself, and yet has the boldness to question the One who did.
Does Man command the Sun to rise?
Did he craft the beautiful moon that pulls at the tides of the fiercest oceans?
Did he create the land he stands on, eats on, lives on, and sleeps on? The same land from which he mocks, berates, and curses at this Supreme Being?
Tell me more about this Man.
Did he choose the day he was born? The family he was born into? Or the era in which he would live?
Wasn’t this Man just a helpless, squealing infant, brought into existence by forces outside his control?
But then this same Man grows up in a world he did not create, breathes air he cannot manufacture, lives under skies he cannot touch, and drinks water that was readily available from an unlimited source.
Without all these things fully provided for him before this Man even existed, how would he have survived?
And yet this Man, driven by a will in him that was put there by his Creator, seeks to understand everything.
But if Man could fully understand every tenet, every fibre, and every working of this Supreme Being…
Would He still remain Supreme?
Would He still be worthy of Man’s awe and reverence?
Or would He simply be reduced to the level of mere, mortal Man—
Man, who spends half his life bent over, staring at a screen of images and sounds.
Man, who does not know what will happen to him in the next minute, hour, or day.
Man, who lusts, envies, hates, destroys, and murders his fellow man for the sake of Man’s interest.
Man in his ignorance, believes that he knows it all.
To me, Man is arrogant.
And I lament the pitiful arrogance of Man.
What If We’re Not Meant to Know?
You have questions about God.
I do too.
Sometimes, we feel like we deserve answers.
But what if we don’t?
What if the truth is that we’re better off not knowing?
What if these questions, no matter how deep or profound they seem, will never be fully answered because our minds are simply not able to handle the vastness of that knowledge?
Or the maddening pressure that must come with it?
And even if we did receive answers, wouldn’t those answers just lead to more questions, and even more questions after that?
As it is, we barely understand the things we learn in school.
We barely even understand ourselves; our emotions, our thoughts, our fears.
We’ve been around for thousands of years, and we have not fully grasped how our planet, this ecosystem, this galaxy even works.
So if we have yet to comprehend those things…
How can we even begin to fathom Him?
Maybe we’re better off not knowing everything.
In fact, I find comfort in not knowing so many things.
I revel in the fact that I do not understand everything.
Why should I?
Why should I desire the burden that comes with knowledge?
I know that ignorance is not bliss, but only in the matters of God have I accepted that I do not need to know everything.
I’d rather bask and find comfort in the fact that an All-Powerful Being exists, watching over everything, and is always looking out for my best interests.
That, to me, is the more important thing.
To the One Who Believes There is No God
I respect you.
And I also recognise the arrogance in your heart.
You believe in your numbers and your facts and your figures and your formulas.
Your charts and your hypothetical conclusions.
All of which were invented by this same flawed, limited Man we have spoken so much about.
Or maybe your doubt isn’t based on science.
Maybe it’s based on something else.
Pain?
Disillusionment?
Despair at the evil in the world?
You refuse to believe there is a Good, Supreme Being that exists, because after all, if He truly did, then why do bad things happen?
Your argument is valid. Sometimes, I also wonder the same.
But tell me, have you ever paused to consider the good?
The beauty of the mountains?
The intelligence of the mind?
The intricate design of the human body?
The detailed biology of the trees on the land and the plants under the sea?
The way seasons change; winter to spring to summer to autumn?
The way music and art and poetry evoke emotions that science has still not fully explained?
The way thousands of different animals have their unique way of thinking, living, and communicating?
Do you think all these things came together by chance?
Do you think they “just happened”?
No, these things are evidence.
Evidence of a Superintelligent Being that is behind it all.
You say there is no proof of a “God”.
But if you look around, if you truly look, the “proof” you seek is everywhere, all around you.
I have no desire to change your mind.
I’m just saying:
Look.
To The Christian
If you are also struggling with questions, I just want you to know:
You are not a “sinner”, you are human.
The fact that you have questions doesn’t mean you don’t love God.
It just means you’re exercising the ability of free thinking that He gave to you.
God could have made all of us doing His will without us even knowing.
But He gave us a choice: a choice to choose to believe in Him.
People might shut you down and demand that you keep quiet.
They will tell you to just “accept” everything as it is.
For a while, especially in your younger years, you might do this.
But as you grow older and wiser and more versed with the world and its activities, you will have questions.
Maybe even a lot of them.
I don’t condemn you for it.
You see, for a long time, I didn’t understand it.
Why were they so adverse to us asking questions about God?
Why were they so defensive when we raise moral questions?
Why did they react so negatively to questions even as simple as “who created God?”
But now, I think I get it.
I understand why they say, “Don’t question God.”
Although I do not agree with their “brainwashing-like” method of forcing us to believe it all, I have a better grasp of their intentions.
It is not because questioning Him is inherently wrong, it’s just because we may never get the answers that we want.
It’s because some of the questions we ask just don’t have answers.
It’s because they themselves do not know.
And that’s where the danger lies.
Because unanswered questions can lead to doubt.
And doubt can lead to separation.
And we do not want to be separated from God, temporarily or eternally.
So what do we do when we have so many questions?
What do we do when we wrestle with faith and battle with our doubts?
What do we do when we battle with the reality of His existence?
We go back to His word.
You see, that’s the only advantage we have over everybody else.
It’s sad how many of us don’t fully realise it.
The Bible is not just a history book.
Or a book of stories and heroes.
It’s not even just a book of “do this” and “don’t do that.”
It is the full, complete proof of His existence.
And while we may not find the answer to every question we have in it.
We will most certainly find peace.
And that is enough.
The Questions That Never End
I know you have many questions.
About God.
About life.
About why things are the way they are.
Maybe you’ve asked them in the quiet moments as you stared at the ceiling at 2 a.m.
Maybe you’ve shouted them in frustration, demanding answers from a God who seems silent.
Maybe you’ve asked them from pain, as you watched the news or heard the horror stories of the things that happen to innocent people.
So the questions pile up in your mind and in my mind too:
Does God hate women?
Is God vain and self-absorbed?
Why does God let bad things happen?
Why does God watch good people suffer?
Why would God send “good” people to hell just because they didn’t believe in Him?
Why does God feel so distant?
Why does faith in Him feel so hard?
Why does God give us so many rules to follow?
Why can’t God let us live the way we want, since we only have one life?
Sometimes the questions are deeply personal:
God, why did you let my mother die, she loved you so much?
God, I prayed and I believed, yet you didn’t bother to answer?
God, why did your own church and your so-called “pastors” hurt me so badly?
The list could go on forever.
And I wish I could give you a perfect answer for every single one of them.
A neat, logical, satisfying explanation that ties every answer together like the final scene of a well-written movie.
Heck, I wish I had some answers to a few questions of mine too.
But the truth?
Our questions will never end.
There will always be things that don’t make sense.
There will always be things that feel unfair.
There will always be things that we just can’t understand.
And that’s the way it will be till the world ends.
Because if God is who truly He says He is: supreme, eternal, existing beyond time and space: then of course we cannot fully understand him.
Of course there are things we won’t be able to see.
A child doesn’t always understand why a loving parent says no.
A tiny ant cannot comprehend the movements of his universe.
And Man, in all his wisdom and knowledge, still cannot explain the deepest mysteries of life.
So, what then do we do with all these questions?
It’s a personal choice.
Some people let them build walls between themselves and God.
Some let them turn into anger, bitterness, and rejection.
Some spend their whole lives demanding answers; answers that they will probably never get.
But me?
I choose to believe.
Not because I have all the answers.
Not because my mind has figured everything out.
But because I know that if I could fully understand God, then He wouldn’t be God.
You know the way we talk about “see finish” and “over-familiarity”? Yeah, something like that.
I know that I am small, and He is vast.
I am temporary, and He is eternal.
I am flawed, and He is perfect.
And I choose to find peace in that.
So yes, there are questions.
And yes, they are hard.
But maybe, just maybe, the goal was never to answer them all.
Maybe the goal was to trust the One who holds the answers.
Conclusion
The intended lesson of this piece is really simple, and it boils down to this:
I am a Man, you are a Man.
God is God.
We can never, ever fully understand Him.
No matter how much we try and no matter how bad we want to.
We just CAN NOT.
Call me whatever, but I genuinely believe that as human beings, we often have a very aggrandised view of ourselves, considering the fact that we’re so tiny and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
So, it all boils down to a personal choice.
You can spend your entire life wondering and asking questions.
Or you can choose to accept that some things are simply beyond you.
And that is okay.
Rather than fixating on the evil in the world, we should find peace in the good.
There’s a lot of it around.
The truth is, whether we believe in Him or not, He exists.
And He is too Supreme for us to fathom Him.
And that exactly is why He is God.
You know me, always open to debates and challenging perspectives.
But there’s no point in trying to convince me to believe anything that’s different from what I’ve already written here.
However, I’m very open to listening to your thoughts, diverse or in agreement.
Peace. ✌
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I saw somewhere one time that’s it’s not that we’re not to question God, it’s that we’re not to question the supremacy of God.
The rationale was that God is father, and so just as you’ll ask your dad questions for clarifications on things you do not understand, you’re welcome to do the same with God. In fact, He wants you to.
Wow! I recently found your work and I am really enjoying it. Your ability to put down so many thoughts and questions I have had is beautiful. I want come back a 2nd time with fresh eyes and give a more in depth analysis and thoughts on your piece. For now, all I can say is keep writing, love your work. Also, not sure if you have heard of him but with your way of writing you may really like Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground would be my book recommendation, not too long of a read!