The Doubt Monster

I'd like to remind you to read the Intro and the previous Parts before reading this post if you would like the full context. The Intro in particular will explain who the heck Rhett and Link are, because I will be referring to them occasionally, and they inspired me to share my story. So I had arrived at the realization that no one knows whether or not God exists. Again, the keyword here is "know". Your faith and your personal spiritual experiences may feel like knowledge, but to know something is to have definitive proof. One person may believe in God, but they can't know he exists - whereas another person may not believe in God, but they can't know he doesn't exist. Arriving at this conclusion among others - like evolution being scientifically proven, despite many Christians teaching the opposite - shattered my trust in the Christian faith and in the Christians who had been teaching me my whole life. When you call someone's bluff on one thing...

I'd like to remind you to read the Intro and Parts One and Two before reading this post if you would like the full context. The Intro in particular will explain who the heck Rhett and Link are, because I will be referring to them occasionally, and they inspired me to share my story. Humans seem to have this innate desire for answers, for knowledge. We also seem to have an innate desire for meaning and purpose.With those desires combined, it makes sense that we would look for signs of a higher power - something or someone with all the answers who has a purpose for us. It would give us a feeling of security and safety, knowing that someone else was in charge; that there was a reason behind everything we experienced, particularly the difficult things. From the time our brains can process questions and our mouths can ask them, we're on a mission to get answers. It starts simply - by asking why things hurt or why the sky is blue - but it progresses to deeper and deeper ...

I'd like to remind you to read the Intro and Part One before reading this post. The Intro in particular will explain who the heck Rhett and Link are, because I will be referring to them occasionally throughout this process. Also, since we're getting to the "doubting God exists" part - which is a very sensitive and triggering subject for some people - I'd like to remind you that this is my story, not yours. I'm not here to convince anyone of anything. I'm not here to "lead people astray". I am merely sharing. Perhaps you can challenge yourself to experience my story without fear in your heart. Listening with fear is not truly listening. I believe I was about 7 years old when I experienced my first "wait a minute ... how do we know God exists?" moment. It was weird. I don't know how it came to mind; it was just there all of a sudden, and it rocked my tiny world. After being born, my reality was taught to me and God was alw...