Doubting

[DeerGlow]

The concept that God existed before time is kind of causing doubts right now. Some part of me keeps saying, "That's impossible." The verse that says something "All things are possible with God." Just came to mind but I know it shouldn't bother me because the universe couldn't just explode from nothing but my brain keeps asking, "Well, where did God come from?" and saying it isn't possible; can't be. How can I restore my faith from this doubt? I do not want to doubt but this is bothering me.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[“Paisios”]

I wouldn't so much say that God existed before time, as to say that He exists outside of time. Time itself is one of His creations.

 

[Kerensa]

I think it's one of those things that our limited human minds just can't really comprehend, DeerGlow... I wouldn't worry about it too much, honestly. There's a LOT about God that our present finite sense of things can't fully grasp. I just trust that God is always showing me as much about Himself as I can understand and need to understand right now... beyond that, well, I figure we'll know eventually.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;
then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV)

 

[Aleksandros]

This is unfortunately a wiring issue with the kinds of minds we possess - anxious minds seek answers and loathe uncertainty and not knowing things. It is hard for us to accept, "That's just how it is."

That's what I think it comes down to.

I still struggle with this particular aspect of God's Being myself - thankfully now it's much better. I just accept it even if I don't get it.

It's still often there though, I think.

This being what it is, it needs prayer and deep (thoughtful and meditative) Bible study, guided by the Holy Spirit. Along with that, practice being okay with not knowing - and realise that this doubt won't threaten your faith. It'll pass, but it'll probably only recede in stages.

You have to confess it though, a "That's impossible" reaction is unbelief. That's also why you /will/ be helped.

It also just comes with being temporal. The only other rival to it is probably trying to imagine not existing. You can not do it!

Some things you just have to shrug about and accept, in the end, and prayer helps you to do that.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

The concept that God existed before time is kind of causing doubts right now. Some part of me keeps saying, "That's impossible." The verse that says something "All things are possible with God." Just came to mind but I know it shouldn't bother me because the universe couldn't just explode from nothing but my brain keeps asking, "Well, where did God come from?" and saying it isn't possible; can't be. How can I restore my faith from this doubt? I do not want to doubt but this is bothering me.

WONDERFUL !

Consider this: if YHWH the CREATOR was so small as to be confined by time,
would He be the CREATOR of all the universe, all life, and the SAVIOR of all those who TRUST HIM ?

Trust like a little child, not like a scholar - a little child who looks up to Him and says "OKAY! What's Next ?" ....

The faith, the trust, the confidence we have IN HIM,
is all a gift - we cannot buy it nor earn it nor 'build it' from anything we have ourselves....

A sheer gift, fully and wondrously and generously
poured out from the Father in Heaven , without measure -
to all those who call on Him for His Help/ Salvation in Jesus !

 

[HoleyHermit]

Only the dead have seen the end of doubt.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Only the dead have seen the end of doubt.

According to HEBREWS, in the NEW TESTAMENT,
and
much more in SCRIPTURE,
those who have been made anew, born again, trusting and relying on the FATHER and HIS SON JESUS,
have been and can today also be totally free from doubt,
and can see this throughout the NEW TESTAMENT.

Likewise, many other religions/ faiths/ false beliefs continue in doubt until they die, and then are judged/ perish forever.

 

[frienden thalord]

When I was in kindergarten I too sat and pondered about that very thing.
I pondered about How that was possible. I pondered about what was before this
then another question arose and it came about GOD.
so then I sat and pondered that . Well What was before GOD
and I knew nothing could have been. Yet it made no sense to me.
I pondered about space and what is outside of it , and then what is outside of that
and so on. Mind you I was barley five years old. But I kept thinking
How can God have always been. And yet I kept getting that HE must have just always
been, because something cant just be , without having been.
It was like trying to reason it out in , mind you a five year old head,
I kept thinking how did man come to be
and how did life come to be. And that their must just have always been LIFE.
anyway their were other much longer thoughts and reasons.
BUT the thing is................I got the answer years , and years later.
And no matter how I say it.....I don't think it will make sense.
But it sure did . God revealed to me what little part I needed to understand.
I only understand it eough for me . not well enough to explain it.
But believe me its absolutely true.
IN fact its impossible for it to be any other way.
God , his time is not like what we conceive time as.
we see time as point a to point B................but GOD , his time, HE himself
just is it all. His time just IS. Imagine the time of NOW.........yet its in all ages
Man I cant explain it . I just cant. Their is no individual beginning with GOD
HE is the beginning and the ending.............its just we have no concept of his time.
and I sure cant put it into words at all. Every time I go back and read it
I cant put it into the right words. Have you ever known something , yet
cant explain well enough what it is you know . AND believe me , its only a tiny glimpse.
I sure don't know this whole concept. JUST enough , just enough.
Every scientific logical reason can never answer what was before time or what
was befor the time that was not time. they can ponder
GOD JUST ALWAYS IS. HE always IS and was and will be.
sorry I cant explain it well enough. but as I said , I just know such a tiny part
as I needed to know . You rest your mind and seek GOD.
what you NEED to know you will, not what we think, but as GOD knows we need.
All you need is to seek HIM and FOLLOW CHRIST
we just wont know it all .........ONLY GOD DOES. and amen
cause if we humans in this flesh knew all..............we would destroy everthing.
God knows what is best for us . HE knows. again sorry I cant put it into words for you.
BUT I can tell you with NO DOUBT , HE JUST ALWAYS WAS AND IS AND WILL BE
in time that we cannot yet understand , but one day we will , not in these bodies
but on HIS DAY> amen.

 

[HoleyHermit]

According to HEBREWS, in the NEW TESTAMENT,
and
much more in SCRIPTURE,
those who have been made anew, born again, trusting and relying on the FATHER and HIS SON JESUS,
have been and can today also be totally free from doubt,
and can see this throughout the NEW TESTAMENT.

Likewise, many other religions/ faiths/ false beliefs continue in doubt until they die, and then are judged/ perish forever.

God is faithful and true. People are not.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

God is faithful and true. People are not.

Very True.

When HE SAYS they were (pure in heart, perfect, holy, etc) and faithful, and not doubting, and not afraid of any fear,
as He Says in His Word, and by His Ruach HaKodesh (His Breath),
we can be sure
absolutely that it is truth.
Thus, see in HIS WORD, as many have already, for thousands of years.

 

[Benjamin Keppler]

The concept that God existed before time is kind of causing doubts right now. Some part of me keeps saying, "That's impossible." The verse that says something "All things are possible with God." Just came to mind but I know it shouldn't bother me because the universe couldn't just explode from nothing but my brain keeps asking, "Well, where did God come from?" and saying it isn't possible; can't be. How can I restore my faith from this doubt? I do not want to doubt but this is bothering me.

I can well understand the problem of doubting, given my background as a professional Software Engineer where ruthless rationality is a job requirement. Maybe the world of science can help here, however. I've done a little bit of reading about quantum physics and the actual observed phenomena that have informed developments in technology. I suggest you obtain a copy of the relatively accessible book Schrödinger's Rabbits: The Many Worlds of Quantum: Colin Bruce: 9780309090513: Amazon.com: Books. Here you will find explanations of some behaviors in the natural world that defy logic, yet nevertheless have been proven to exist. I have found it useful to contemplate this topic when thoughts about the implausibility of a being outside time come into my head. It helps me to accept that I actually know very little about the universe and its workings. If I am unable to understand why quantum tunneling should occur (it does and must be accounted for in chip design!), then it no longer seems so necessary to be able to understand how God can exist outside time. To state the principle more succinctly, contemplating just how dimly I understand that which is observable makes it easier to accept my inability to understand that which is not. Perhaps that will help you as well.

 

[aiki]

The concept that God existed before time is kind of causing doubts right now. Some part of me keeps saying, "That's impossible." The verse that says something "All things are possible with God." Just came to mind but I know it shouldn't bother me because the universe couldn't just explode from nothing but my brain keeps asking, "Well, where did God come from?" and saying it isn't possible; can't be. How can I restore my faith from this doubt? I do not want to doubt but this is bothering me.

Asking where God came from is like asking how many right angles there are in a circle, or how many married bachelors live in Winnipeg. By definition, a circle has no right angles, bachelors aren't married, and God did not come into being. Everything we know of in the material universe is contingent upon something else bringing it into existence. This is so fundamental to our reality it is extremely difficult to imagine something that has never had a beginning, that was never brought into being by something else before it. But if God is truly God, He cannot have had a beginning and He cannot have been brought into existence by something else. This is why we refer to God as a non-contingent Being, the uncaused First Cause. By definition, this must be true of God. Any god who had a beginning, who is contingent upon something else for its existence, is not truly God.

 

[DeerGlow]

What does "LORD" mean in the Bible?
The Existing One

Yehovah - Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon - King James Version

For some odd reason, this really helps. Like how does God exist? Like @Shoetoyou said, outside of time, and He simply is the Existing One.

 

[lastofall]

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

>>seeing that faith cometh by hearing [submitting to and relying upon] the Word of God only and exclusively, so then if we lack (are in doubt) faith we must more abundantly hear God's Word.

 

[longwait]

The concept that God existed before time is kind of causing doubts right now. Some part of me keeps saying, "That's impossible." The verse that says something "All things are possible with God." Just came to mind but I know it shouldn't bother me because the universe couldn't just explode from nothing but my brain keeps asking, "Well, where did God come from?" and saying it isn't possible; can't be. How can I restore my faith from this doubt? I do not want to doubt but this is bothering me.

Don't bother yourself with such thoughts. It will only hurt your head.

 

[LoricaLady]

The concept that God existed before time is kind of causing doubts right now. Some part of me keeps saying, "That's impossible." The verse that says something "All things are possible with God." Just came to mind but I know it shouldn't bother me because the universe couldn't just explode from nothing but my brain keeps asking, "Well, where did God come from?" and saying it isn't possible; can't be. How can I restore my faith from this doubt? I do not want to doubt but this is bothering me.

There has to have always been something or Someone. Why? Because as you indicated, the only thing that can come from nothing is nothing. You are used to the physical realm, of course, where things have a beginning and an end. But the Almighty is in the supernatural realm and things work differently there. The laws of our universe don't apply to Him. HE made those laws.