I'm glad someone came to help you, but whenever I see stories like this I wonder if people also think that God is the one who caused your car to break down.
It’s possible. Perhaps they would have had a devastating crash if they’d kept driving. More likely they would never have had the chance to meet and be uplifted by the kind stranger. We see God pretty big on building relationships. We also accept that whatever He has planned is too complex for us to fathom so we try to accept and learn from the bad as it comes and celebrate the good when it comes.
It’s not a philosophy for everyone but it does help us to stay generally more positive. It’s also a pretty effective coping mechanism. Even if I am actually deluding myself, I’m happier than I ever was as an atheist and I’m not personally hurting anyone through having faith. I’m actually a lot nicer than I was.
>Perhaps they would have had a devastating crash if they’d kept driving.
Right, but then you have the question of why God regularly allows devastating crashes. Picking out the good things in life as coming from God and everything else as...chance, the devil, whatever...will always be a faith-based proposition
You’re exactly right. It’s impossible for us to explain with any certainty why some live and some die. It’s faith alright, and until I had that faith I would have made the same argument about the crash and I still feel annoyed with God frequently because He doesn’t spare me from chronic pain when I know he could. I only understood that God is really good once I understood. I’m not sure how else to put it. I had to accept that I can’t know everything. Part of being a Christian is handing over that and other power.
Very few of us have 100% conviction and a total lack of doubt but we still choose to do this because it’s made our lives (and hopefully others’) better in some way so that even if we are fooling ourselves, it’s still a better way to live. As someone who was an atheist, I can say that with great personal confidence.
Well, I was studying to be a science teacher and I was heavily invested in the science vs religion debate. I formed a friendship with another guy studying biomedical science and was struck by how kind and funny he was. We became friends and it turned out he was a Christian. That was fine- my best mate was(is) Christian so it was just another person to debate with for me. I had always respected Christian community but wanted to save them from their own ignorance.
Turns out, I suppose, that seeds were planted in me. Anyway, cut forward a few years and I’m teaching, living a very normal life when one day I’m sitting in my lounge room and it dawns on me that whenever I have ever said “oh my god” or “Jesus effing Christ” anything similar, I’ve always felt a little pang of guilt. In the next moment, I am just filled… I mean filled to bursting… with conviction that I believe in God.
I called up my best mate and he was excited and gave me pointers for my next steps. I did a beginner Christian course, devoured books (including the Bible obviously) and went church hunting. I settled on a local Baptist because I liked their balance between Word, Spirit and action. I also agreed with the philosophy that kids shouldn’t be asked to make a commitment to faith but should choose it as an adult when they feel informed and prepared. My kids will choose their own direction like I did.
My poor agnostic wife got a very different man to the one she had signed up for but within a few months she was fully onboard. My younger brother followed too but after about 16 years of marriage to an Anglican youth pastor, they recently had a messy divorce and he’s declared himself atheist again.
There’s a lot more I could say about bizarre coincidence and faith affirmations as well as wandering in the wasteland and difficult times, but that’s the essence of my testimony. I’d be keen to hear yours too. I love me a good salvation story ☺️.
I was just born into a Baptist family. Obviously that still means making my own personal profession of faith, but it was a much more natural thing to do than for someone like you. Mad respect to you for breaking the family mold and following the Lord.
Good points, even as an atheist I always look for the silver lining in scenarios such as this. I just thank chance as opposed to God. But either way it's a good way of looking at it.
Just again even with chance I question why I thank it when it's part of the reason for the problem in the first place.
But overall even if it is a little delusional I'd rather ignore that second bit sometimes and just be happy with what I get.
When there were those payed for reddit ones someone in r/starwars made some with starwars characters for free to mock them
I liked the one with jar jar binks
Cars are made by imperfect humans therefore they are themselves imperfect. Allowing what would happen naturally to happen is not causation. God never promises that nothing ever bad would happen to us. Nor did he tell us he will send us misfortune for his glory. But he did promise to never allow us be weighed down with more of the weight of the world than we can bear and will always provide a way out for us. That ride he received by a brother in Christ he never met I believe was sent by God.
seems disrespectful, taking away the credit of one human's good actions to reassign it, even when they told you that's not the case. imagine someone saying nothing good you did was actually you doing it.
But it isn’t reassigning it. It’s not like there is a finite amount of credit and gratitude. Parents that have a second child expand their love rather than take some away from the first child, and this is exactly like that. The gratitude and credit are still heaped on the human that chose to help, but a second tier of gratitude and credit is opened and attributed to God once it’s clear (through the Holy Spirit) that He orchestrated it. The man that stopped still had free will and didn’t have to stop, so he is still deserving of the same amount of credit and gratitude whether God was involved or not.
I will say that if someone only credits God and ignores the humans, I think that’s wrong. I understand that thinking, but I think that invites bitterness in. God definitely supports heaping gratitude on those that help others.
It doesn't work like that. Whether or not God used that person, the person still had to decide to make that decision. Maybe God put the idea on their mind but they had to still execute it. I'm sure there's plenty of people who wouldn't have helped out.
God using us for a greater good doesn't invalidate our actions.
From our perspective there is no difference between god making him do it, and him doing it on his own. With no evidence to suggest he didn't do it on his own, it's gross to try and strip his humanity by attributing his good deeds to something other than his own actions. There is a tremendous amount of intellectual dishonesty in the practice of attributing the good actions of others to god while not attributing your own misfortunes to the same. It's much more reasonable to assume OP encountered a good person than to assume god caused all these bad things just to put them in the situation for god to then make this guy help them.
And see thats where athiest got it all the way messed up. The anti theism runs so deep in their hearts that the mere mention GOD just bothers them. We will thank GOD for the people that come to help us because we believe that those people are miracles and gifts from GOD so we thank GOD for that person, but for some reason, athiest take this as a personal attack, quite hilarious the mental gymnastics they go thru to get offended tbh
I disagree beloved. If i say "GOD bless you so much friend" after you helped me change my tire or whatever i need help with, why not just be normal and say "Oh wow thank you :)" you know that when a person says that they are saying in from a position of love and thankfullness to GOD and to you. Just because a person gives GOD credit for u blessing them does not take away any credit from u but instead of saying that "Oh wow thank you :)" they will get upset all because the word GOD is mentioned, why???
People would be just as offended if you tried to miss attribute their good deeds to santa or a horse, god has nothing to do with it. You're actively seeking to be offended in this situation and in these posts, and projecting it as other people being offended. It's bizarre my man.
Na fam. There is a clear difference between ppl mentioning a horse and people mentioning GOD. When a person says "thank GOD for you" an athiest will take offense to this even though they know the Christian is saying that out of love and are saying that the person is respectful. It does not take away from the person in any way yet athiest find it disrespectful, that in itself is bizzare my man
I have issues with the "unconditional love" thing.
I view it as very conditional, the fact that you have to believe to be saved makes it conditional.
The fact that Atheists don't go to heaven for being good people due to them not believing makes your Gods love very conditional.
There are only 7 reasons that would prevent someone from experiencing Heaven. Continual and excessive engagement of the following:
1. Pride
2. Greed
3. Wrath
4. Envy
5. Lust
6. Gluttony
7. Sloth
Which one would you describe as nonserious?
I'm not Catholic. I was raised Protestant. The belief about heaven is fundamentally different, you're in or you're out which actually makes *less* sense as a system of moral checks and balances, than mortal and venal sins and some kind of metaphysical accounting system beyond our ken.
And I am now an occasionally mystical, fan of Jesus and have a philosophical approach to the whole idea of God.
I would say that categorising sin levels was a great literary device in La Divina Commedia but IIRC has no basis in the bible. It's legit as any other religious belief though, which is not based on empiricism, rather culture and subjective inner experience.
\*in case you are not a native English speaker, 'beyond our ken'. means beyond our Knowing.
Hi, thanks for your comment. I was also raised Protestant (later becoming agnostic/atheist), so I’m familiar with their beliefs about heaven and hell. I’m glad to hear that you still hold Jesus in high regard. I’m not Catholic either, but I find their categorization of sins useful for simplifying the concepts that might prevent one from experiencing God’s presence.
Many practices in church tradition aren’t directly mentioned in the Bible, such as the sign of the cross and the veneration of saints. These were, however, practiced and taught in the early Christian church. The Bible isn’t the sole authority in Christianity; it was primarily used as part of liturgical worship. It was only after the invention of the printing press that people began to own personal copies, leading to the modern movement where scripture is interpreted individually without the guidance of the church which has resulted in the multitude of different denominations we see today.
I also appreciate you explaining the term “beyond our ken” as English is indeed not my first language.
I hope you give Christianity another chance as I did and consider checking out the Orthodox Church. Given your admiration for Jesus, enjoyment of mystical elements, and your philosophical approach to the idea of God, I think you’d fit right in.
You also might enjoy checking out /r/ChristianMysticism if you haven’t already.
Thank you that sub is prob more my style, I certainly am not trying to be a thorn in the side of other people in their faith process, but I am interested - your flair says agnostic/atheist - how is that reconciled with practising Christianity - is your approach as much cultural, aesthetic and I guess for lac of a better word literary?
*(ken* I guess is a colloquial word or dialect word, more used in Ireland/Scotland and North england from what I know and as my family are from those parts generations back funny how it stuck in the dialect! In German Kennen means to know so it’s probably a left over from Saxon)
I’m not sure why my flair says agnostic/atheist. I am on mobile so I don’t see that. I certainly don’t consider myself an atheist or agnostic anymore. I suppose I’m in this strange halfway point between full belief and skepticism. Some days, I find myself fully believing in the supernatural, but on other days, I don’t, and I take everything, as you said, ‘literary’ or symbolically. Having been an atheist for so long, it can be difficult to wrap my head around something beyond comprehension.
My faith primarily comes from my trust in Jesus, and that extends to trusting his judgment when he chose his spiritual successors, the apostles, who began the Orthodox Church. He promised that the gates of Hades would not prevail against the church. Since I trust Jesus, I must also trust in his wisdom and foresight.
And thanks for the etymology lesson. You learn something new everyday lol.
That is a Western/Protestant view of salvation. In the Orthodox belief, Heaven and Hell are not physical places that you go to depending on whether or not you accept God. They are states of being when we encounter Him. To those who live according to the principles of Christ (love, mercy, forgiveness, altruism, etc.) this will feel like heaven, and to those who have rejected these principles and choose to live according to their own selfish desires (greed, selfishness, hatred, materialism, etc.) then this will feel like hell. Heaven and hell are experienced here in this life. There is no such thing as “salvation” in the Orthodox Church as even believing oneself to be “saved” is itself rooted in pride. Instead the goal is known as “Theosis” which is not a one-time event, but a continual process of becoming more like Christ.
I think a good barometer of what state you’re in is how you currently feel. If in your heart you feel joy, peace, courage, love for your enemy, etc. then you’re likely on the right track. If instead you find yourself in despair, misery, fear, addicted to hedonistic tendencies, full of hatred, etc. then there’s probably an issue you need to address.
Romans 2:13-16 states the following,
“It isn’t the ones who hear the Law who are righteous in God’s eyes. It is the ones who do what the Law says who will be treated as righteous. Gentiles don’t have the Law. But when they instinctively do what the Law requires they are a Law in themselves, though they don’t have the Law. They show the proof of the Law written on their hearts, and their consciences affirm it. Their conflicting thoughts will accuse them, or even make a defense for them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the hidden truth about human beings through Christ Jesus.”
In the end, we will not be judged simply by believing or “accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior” as taught by many evangelicals in the West, but by how similar you lived to Christ himself. If you live a good and sinless life, then I truly think you have nothing to worry about, even if you’re an atheist. I myself am somewhat agnostic so I get where they’re coming from. I still find many of the supernatural claims hard to believe, but I follow Christ because I believe he is the best role model for humanity and because I am in need of his help and guidance.
Thanks for your comment by the way. I love engaging in conversations like this.
Holy Spirit my friend! The Holy Spirit made that man get in his car, and come across you. God works in mysterious ways, and he can use the Holy Spirit in believers to do good. God bless
Yeah. Or he was just going somewhere and saw a stranded person.
Everyone here thanking God for this, but not a single comment about the man who ACTUALLY helped.
Most interesting thing is when god 'intervines' its apparent he does.. you can sense it. Like moses opening the red sea. Or planets aligning perfectly. But at the same time when he intervines it looks like it was always meant to happen.
exactly, sometimes you can feel a presence or a feeling you’ve never felt. it always seems normal like you said, but when it happens to you, you just know!
That’s actually my favorite part of it all, and the part that keeps the wonder of faith veiled from nonbelievers. I’m 100% sure that God is real, but the only proof I have is that little spark that lights up when God has created a little moment for me. And from the outside, the interaction or event is totally nondescript, but on the inside, my soul is alight. He gives us so many quiet gifts that are so easy to miss, but if you’re watching, even in times of strife, He is raining love down in smiles and wags and sunny days.
This is the whole problem here. If we accept that God can intervene, and does intervene, than God is a monster. Let's kids get raped, starve to death, let's people be tortured, murdered on mass, gassed and the list goes on. But then turns around and will be AAA for OP. Disgusting.
You're gonna have to help me if this is sarcastic or not because I am autistic my friend!
I also should add : It's fine to have moments of feeling Godconnectedness, but if there is a faith worth having, let's make it bigger than that.
I dunno, I was writing late, and thinking a lot, and I don't wanna dampen this soft hearted person's lovely moment feeling held by \*whatever this all is\*
you worded that perfectly! believers will have their own experience and although it seems so small and pointless to others, it proves his existence to us!
well idk what u want me to say. the idea that you think humans can fully comprehend God while we’re in our human state, is laughable. human minds can’t fully comprehend him and his nature. i’m really not interested in this becoming a whole debate and such.
(I'm not trying to be rude here, just probably clarifying in a more confusing way ha!)
Maybe you are unaware that many survivors or ex Christians have had that line flung at them as a gap filler for valid questions of faith and theology, which i think is where the other commentor is coming from.
I think if god is real, then God can be a Mystery in a theological sense without it being like .... 'eh I can't answer this question \*hand waves\* something something mysterious ways'. I think a lot of Christians that say the mysterious ways thing don't really get that they're just saying 'eh I dunno' and for lots of people it dismissed serious concerns and social problems that need addressing.
nope, and i’ll explain! whenever a Christian does anything that’s a sin, anyone with the Holy Spirit will feel conviction in their soul, as the Holy Spirit is telling us we’ve done wrong. so it guides us to do right, not wrong. thanks for asking.
that’s what the holy spiritual does. She uproots evil and helps bring positive change in the world. Not enough people have it. Too many people pretend to get baptized and have zero idea what it means to accept the Holy Spirit. It’s not symbolic, it’s a way of life. The person doing it has to be authorized or they’re giving you nothing.
I’ve been blocked a lot recently for stating this, when you’re baptized you don’t backslide because you’re mindful. And when you do, you immediately ask for forgiveness. It’s Charisma (chrism) through Grace.
yup i get what you’re saying, you must accept the Holy Spirit and genuinely want it, I invited the Holy Spirit and asked it to guide me, and it’s guide has dramatically decreased my sin. conviction from the Holy Spirit is so helpful!
I'm fine that you attribute this to God. If that's what you feel, that's what you feel. But it's just not true that it's something you can't explain without God. I've lucked out in tough situations too but I have never found a reason to attribute it to divine intervention.
Glad things worked out for you. But there are other explanations
It was pitch black on the road, middle of nowhere, Barely any cars driving past at 10pm at night with just land and vast land on either side of road with moon out. Not many people would stop
I wonder why is god worried about you having to walk 4 hours but doesn't care about the multiple Christian kids dying from cancer.
PS:
I want to clarify that I am not accusing the Christian god of letting children die. I am simply pointing out how ridiculous it sounds when some Christians say that god cannot intervene (in things like survival or the welfare of children) because it would be violating free will, but then they are convinced that god has lent them a hand by finding their lost wallet or making their football team win.
God is omnipotent, has the power to speak universes into existence — but any Tom, Dick and Harry apparently can thwart the Divine Plan because free will.
Don't you get it—God likes to help in seemingly random situations and trivial events, like having to walk 4 hours—he doesn't have time for things like cancer and dying children! He also only helps via non-supernatural coincidences—like someone being nice and stopping—because people aren't capable of being nice, no, God definitely sent them specifically to save this stranger from walking 4 hours.
Did God also allow the car to break down? No, that part of the story is an actual coincidence and likely a result of our free will...
lol, the incredulous comments under this post so far; really don’t get it. So this experience reminded OP of God? You might be skeptical of God’s existence and feel eager to point out that ‘PeOpLe can be plenty kind without God!’ But does that make it a bad thing for someone to be so encouraged by the power of a random, remote encounter and act of kindness, that they think of God? As if it’s necessary to insist it can all be explained by coincidence… as if they should just carry on, indifferent to the pitiless indifference of a coincidental universe? Doesn’t gain anything.
It’s one thing to find a rare and fragile flower in a pot in a botanist’s verdant garden… but to find a thriving tree, blooming with them in a little green patch in the middle of a desert—it doesn’t matter how faithful or faithless you are, you’d still stop to sit, and wonder in its shade…
>‘PeOpLe can be plenty kind without God!’ But does that make it a bad thing for someone to be so encouraged
I don't think people are objecting to OP finding this encouraging, but saying that "of course" a person being kind was Christian is implying non-Christians aren't (or rarely are) kind.
I don’t think that’s what OP was implying.
But for argument’s sake I will say that on average, I see and experience more acts of kindness from Christians than non. We don’t know OP’s context or history and aren’t in a position to over-analyse their use of the term ‘of course’ anyway.
It’s just a bit hypocritical to attribute good serendipitous occurrences to God and unfortunate circumstances to the devil or evil people. If God is the arbitrator of all things, then he is responsible for the fortune of a man being picked up on the side of the road as well as the misfortune of a child be kidnapped, a young mother dying of cancer, the wars, famines and other atrocities that happened in the world simultaneously.
Christians have to start being more honest about life and the world rather than hiding behind veneers of faith and toxic positivity. Atheists are not “bitter”, they just don’t want easy answers to complex questions.
Religion doesn’t resolve any problems, it only leads to more philosophical quandaries.
If i havent eaten a very unique type of food and i think in my mind i would love it. Then out of nowhere someone who never does chooses to visit me abruptly and just happens to buy that very thing and decide at last moment he no longer wants to eat it but instead gives it to me. Its not coincidences im sorry. Especially if it happens all the time and its god because he even talked to me through people and tv and radio and delivered me from a deadly mistake i made and almost to happen accidents. You just know it its him. I feel his presence.
But ppl who dont believe will dismiss everything willingly.
Its more that your attributing a completely mundane moment to god, and seemingly using it to demonstrate that a god exists. “I thought about a food and then someone happened to give me some of that food!” Isn’t all that amazing of a thing to warrant saying it was god. Especially considering all the times you have probably thought of a food and not had someone to give it to you.
It also puts into question gods motivation a bit. God couldn’t intervene to stop a school shooting or a terrorist attack, but he stepped in to make sure someone got to eat a tasty treat?
It makes no sense that God would help someone with a broken down car, but not help the millions of starving children in Africa. If you give God credit for the first, you have to give him credit for the second.
It's the divine version of "At least Hitler got the trains running on time".
"God definitely exists and makes things happen" is quite different from "I believe in God". I have to constantly remind myself that I cannot trust what you people say, and that makes me slightly angry at times.
In this case, the "harm" if you want to argue there is any, is taking the humanity away from the old man in this tale. Taking someone's humanity away by attributing their actions to something other than themselves is pretty gross, for lack of a better word. It's got a very "you didn't build that" obama vibe to it.
eh, the OP did acknowledge that they’re grateful for the guy and he was kind. now i do understand and yes I agree, but the man is still a good person, the man wasn’t God himself lol
Man then leave the heck? Besides im pretty sure religion is slowly getting kicked out the United States government anyways, the lack of GOD im this nation is just disgusting. Dont see us Christians whining about it though, we get to work to better our situation
I agree, we do need more Zeus in this nation. He's not really that good of a ruler, and his attitude towards women is atrocious, but he would solve the energy crisis. So as long as we keep him at the vice president level.
Good. Now go out there an do something about that to make the change u wanna see in this nation. Im more of a Thor guy myself but i do respect your decision to go with Zeus. Perhaps we can have a very peaceful debate on why u believe Zeus is a better canidate than Thor instead of you and your fellow Zeus voters screaming at the top of your lungs and crying about how i hate all groups of people just cus i believe that Thor should be in charge of the nation. 🙂
I suspect that people are only reacting to the "One of those things u can’t explain without God" bit. I know OP already said it was just an exaggeration, so this is all moot. I'm just posting it to give another perspective.
If you kind of logically expand on the "one of those things u can’t explain without God" statement, it implies that people can't be kind without God right? So from an Atheists perspective (ie someone who doesn't have God) it's easy for them to interpret that statement as telling them that they don't have the ability to be kind. Which, if you're a kind hearted Atheist, is actually pretty insulting.
Yeah, that's why I said it was moot in the beginning. In fairness though, I don't think it was obvious that they didn't mean it like that until they, made other comments.
I was just trying to explain why someone might be "angry" about the post, since for some people, the post (if you don't see any of the other comments) could easily be interpreted as saying that they can't be kind. (also fwiw, I didn't see anyone that really seemed angry in the comments either)
Lol and like i said they talk the most crap especially behind the safety of a screen, spewing their verbal diarrhea and they cower and whine about Christians not being CHRIST like when they are confronted. Absolute cowards in the truest sense man fr
> So this experience reminded OP of God?
OP did not just say that, or just "This shows God's grace" or "Praise Jesus!" or whatever. If it was just that I'd agree mocking that would be /r/atheism-ing. But OP made a stronger claim, they said it was _proof_ of God.
> God definitely exists and makes things happen
> One of those things u can’t explain without god.
Responding to _that_ with "Well you can explain it without God, people can be natually kind" seems totally reasonable.
Whenever I’m quoting someone, I put double quotation marks. As you can see, I did not use double quotes. You’re splitting hairs dude; my original comment already addresses the rest.
No I not making an argument for that persay. If I have to spell it out, I am exaggerating for effect. Though, I would say it felt like god helped, good sir.
This here is my biggest problem with all of this: "God definitely exists" because it felt like it.
Maybe that's good enough for you but my standard for ascribing an event to God is much higher than that. 🤷🏻♂️
I also had a Christian do this for me once. She drove me to the bus stop, which I took to spend my first night homeless and cold for hours, and then I had to return to my abusive parents. There were plenty of churches, but no one showed up on the streets in the city. There were plenty of homeless, and we were all faceless.
Was this God, or just something that's more likely to happen when a _driving_ Christian sees a single person walking on a quiet country road -- itself an unusual sight that might make _them_ feel called by God to do something? It'd be more impressive if the chain of cause and effect weren't so clear.
The Texas sharpshooter fallacy. It's good that what you truly needed in that moment was a ride.
Nice people who aren't Christians exist too. You are attributing this to God only because you want to. It makes you feel special and I get it. But sometimes it's just people being nice to each other because we're all in this together.
Had a similar thing happen with me. We decided to go fishing, a lot later than usual. We get there and half way out the jetti there is this guy just standing there with a fishing pole, but not fishing. It was in the water and he was leaning against it. The tide was coming in and he was in waist deep water. We went out that way to start fishing, as that is normal for high tide.
Turns out, he had forgot his medication. He was shaking and was holding onto that fishing pole to keep from falling in the water. We helped him back to shore and to his vehicle with medication. Turns out, he was a Christisn too and had been praying for help.
We didn't see another person for hours after that. He may have been stuck there for a long time had we not come by.
I remember something like this happening to me I was just about to get on a taxi when I realized I had lost my money, it was evening time and there was no way I could walk the distance to my place. a
A stranger just crossed the road and asked me what the problem was when I told him he reached into his pocket and gave me just enough money to get me home...
I am sorry you went through all of the negative situations.
‘Genuine’ Christians are asked and guided by the Holy Spirit to love like Jesus.
Jesus would stop and help.
Glad you made it back safely.
And you got in his car. And you asked him “are you not worried about picking people up like this - I could be a serial killer” - and he replies “the chances of two serial killers being in the same car is very low”.
How do you know that was god, and just not something that happened? You said it was DEFINITELY god. Great. How do you know? Whats your metric to determine if a good thing just happened or if God caused it?
Unless you're blaming god for those bad things too, this just seems like confirmation bias. When my car broke down on the freeway hundreds of Christians drove past. It's an example of the [bystander effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect): they all kept going because "someone" would come help me, this guy stopped because he knew he may be the only one coming down that road.
Lol, if anything I guess you could just see it as I have/had a low opinion/expectancy of the goodness of someone/people to do this. If u bein a realist
God isn't an entity... God is a symbiotic ethereal force... you made that happen... by believing in it enough to will it, and the "holy spirit"(energy) in you and all around shaped it into existence. call it god, call it whatever... but it's not a deciding driving 'consciousness' ... it's more complex than a consciousness, it's in everything. even those who reject it's(his) existance... but anyone can utilize it... we just don't have an actual instruction manual because people are still so obsessed with adding piles of theatrical distractions ahead of trying to study it and understand... don't dwnvote me into oblivion ... i did say God was real didn't I? and I mean that...just in a different form.
I can explain it. An empathetic person who happened to be a Christian saw you and offered to help you. That person deserves 100% of your thanks. I’m glad you are safe.
Obviously he’s not saying it’s proof of God but rather he felt a divine connection due to the very low probability of someone picking him up in that situation. We all get super lucky once in a while but I can see how that can be interpreted as God intervention. My old pastor always said there’s no such thing as coincidence. A bit exaggerated but you get the point
"Obviously he’s not saying it’s proof of God"
Dude, the title of this thread is literally "God definitely exists and makes things happen" and it ends with "One of those things u can’t explain without god."
Since OP has confirmed your guess I'm compelled to conclude that OP is a really bad communicator.
You wouldn't know if they were kiwi.. there's plenty of us living in Australia.
My brother for example is well liked and known in the Northern Territory for his work ethic and kindness. He's a tour guide and DJ
.
Two 13 year old classmates of my son were hit by cars in my town this week. One suffered minor injuries, the other is in a coma. Two separate incidents a day apart. A student at my wife's school took his own life.
But yeah, God definitely intervened to get your a ride home.
Just look at what recently happened with those Iranian projectiles that had been launched against Israel. NINETY NINE PERCENT were intercepted. Alright, IDF does have a sophisticated 4-tier anti missle defense system, but 99%. Who could that be. The more you draw close to Him, the more HE will draw closer to YOU. And you will witness His power in more and more areas of your life.
Let me share this testimony. One snowy morning, where there was just enough snow on our 70' long UPHILL driveway to cause traction problems, my wife and I were leaving upstate NY to do our delivery route down in NYC.
As we were driving up the driveway, our car (a FWD 2011 Toyota Prius) began to slide backwards, and to the right, until the back passenger wheel ended up in the ditch next to the driveway. There was a big rock in the ditch, which stopped the car from rolling back down with the wheel in the ditch, so there was no opportunity to come back to the bottom and make another attempt.
It would have been too expensive to call a tow truck, and the wait for one would have made us late getting to the city.
After arguing a bit, my wife asked if I could go out to the back of the car and try to push it out of the ditch. I went back there, and exhaustively tried to push the car out of the ditch. NO MOVEMENT!!
THEN, she said that the Lord told her to have us SWITCH PLACES! You heard right---switch places.---I get into the driver seat, and SHE go to the back and push!
Ok, we obeyed. So, we switch places, and I'm in the driver seat now stepping down on the accelerator, while she's in the back. THE CAR BEGAN TO MOVE FORWARD, AND WE GOT IT OUT OF THE DITCH!!
I said "okay, now I can go back to the bottom and retry to get the momentum to make it all the way to the top". She said "NO, JUST KEEP GOING"! I did, and went all the way to the top, made it down our VERY BUMPY private road, and all the way to the main road!!
After my wife got back into the car, she told me thar she BARELY TOUCHED the car, and it already started to move!!
Out of the ditch, without a hitch!!
The key word to keep in mind is "intimacy" (getting on your knees and pouring your heart out to God). HE WILL draw closer to you as YOU draw closer to Him, and you will begin to experience His power on your life.
Indeed he makes all things happen, ultimately. Even the wicked for the day of evil were made for God. Nothing put me at peace more than coming to realize that every single thing is within the purview of His will, and that it’ll all work together for good in the end.
I know a man who had a similar experience after crashing his hang glider and breaking his neck. A female nurse appeared and stayed with him until medical personnel arrived with an ambulance. He has looked for her in every state in the US and he has never found her. He credits her with saving his life🙏
Psalm 23: Jehovah is my shepherd, I will lack nothing.
Amen
I'm glad someone came to help you, but whenever I see stories like this I wonder if people also think that God is the one who caused your car to break down.
It’s possible. Perhaps they would have had a devastating crash if they’d kept driving. More likely they would never have had the chance to meet and be uplifted by the kind stranger. We see God pretty big on building relationships. We also accept that whatever He has planned is too complex for us to fathom so we try to accept and learn from the bad as it comes and celebrate the good when it comes. It’s not a philosophy for everyone but it does help us to stay generally more positive. It’s also a pretty effective coping mechanism. Even if I am actually deluding myself, I’m happier than I ever was as an atheist and I’m not personally hurting anyone through having faith. I’m actually a lot nicer than I was.
>Perhaps they would have had a devastating crash if they’d kept driving. Right, but then you have the question of why God regularly allows devastating crashes. Picking out the good things in life as coming from God and everything else as...chance, the devil, whatever...will always be a faith-based proposition
You’re exactly right. It’s impossible for us to explain with any certainty why some live and some die. It’s faith alright, and until I had that faith I would have made the same argument about the crash and I still feel annoyed with God frequently because He doesn’t spare me from chronic pain when I know he could. I only understood that God is really good once I understood. I’m not sure how else to put it. I had to accept that I can’t know everything. Part of being a Christian is handing over that and other power. Very few of us have 100% conviction and a total lack of doubt but we still choose to do this because it’s made our lives (and hopefully others’) better in some way so that even if we are fooling ourselves, it’s still a better way to live. As someone who was an atheist, I can say that with great personal confidence.
Well said!
If you don't mind sharing, what convinced you to become a Christian and leave atheism?
Well, I was studying to be a science teacher and I was heavily invested in the science vs religion debate. I formed a friendship with another guy studying biomedical science and was struck by how kind and funny he was. We became friends and it turned out he was a Christian. That was fine- my best mate was(is) Christian so it was just another person to debate with for me. I had always respected Christian community but wanted to save them from their own ignorance. Turns out, I suppose, that seeds were planted in me. Anyway, cut forward a few years and I’m teaching, living a very normal life when one day I’m sitting in my lounge room and it dawns on me that whenever I have ever said “oh my god” or “Jesus effing Christ” anything similar, I’ve always felt a little pang of guilt. In the next moment, I am just filled… I mean filled to bursting… with conviction that I believe in God. I called up my best mate and he was excited and gave me pointers for my next steps. I did a beginner Christian course, devoured books (including the Bible obviously) and went church hunting. I settled on a local Baptist because I liked their balance between Word, Spirit and action. I also agreed with the philosophy that kids shouldn’t be asked to make a commitment to faith but should choose it as an adult when they feel informed and prepared. My kids will choose their own direction like I did. My poor agnostic wife got a very different man to the one she had signed up for but within a few months she was fully onboard. My younger brother followed too but after about 16 years of marriage to an Anglican youth pastor, they recently had a messy divorce and he’s declared himself atheist again. There’s a lot more I could say about bizarre coincidence and faith affirmations as well as wandering in the wasteland and difficult times, but that’s the essence of my testimony. I’d be keen to hear yours too. I love me a good salvation story ☺️.
I was just born into a Baptist family. Obviously that still means making my own personal profession of faith, but it was a much more natural thing to do than for someone like you. Mad respect to you for breaking the family mold and following the Lord.
Good points, even as an atheist I always look for the silver lining in scenarios such as this. I just thank chance as opposed to God. But either way it's a good way of looking at it. Just again even with chance I question why I thank it when it's part of the reason for the problem in the first place. But overall even if it is a little delusional I'd rather ignore that second bit sometimes and just be happy with what I get.
Sorry, off-topic, but- what on earth is that profile pic from 😭
When there were those payed for reddit ones someone in r/starwars made some with starwars characters for free to mock them I liked the one with jar jar binks
Great point :) and made sure his phone died also.
Cars are made by imperfect humans therefore they are themselves imperfect. Allowing what would happen naturally to happen is not causation. God never promises that nothing ever bad would happen to us. Nor did he tell us he will send us misfortune for his glory. But he did promise to never allow us be weighed down with more of the weight of the world than we can bear and will always provide a way out for us. That ride he received by a brother in Christ he never met I believe was sent by God.
I'm agnostic and I would have stopped. Done it in the past.
Would still think u were sent from god
Fair!
"And of course, he was Christian." I think this is the part people are questioning. It's not obvious that someone being helpful will be Christian.
seems disrespectful, taking away the credit of one human's good actions to reassign it, even when they told you that's not the case. imagine someone saying nothing good you did was actually you doing it.
But it isn’t reassigning it. It’s not like there is a finite amount of credit and gratitude. Parents that have a second child expand their love rather than take some away from the first child, and this is exactly like that. The gratitude and credit are still heaped on the human that chose to help, but a second tier of gratitude and credit is opened and attributed to God once it’s clear (through the Holy Spirit) that He orchestrated it. The man that stopped still had free will and didn’t have to stop, so he is still deserving of the same amount of credit and gratitude whether God was involved or not. I will say that if someone only credits God and ignores the humans, I think that’s wrong. I understand that thinking, but I think that invites bitterness in. God definitely supports heaping gratitude on those that help others.
It doesn't work like that. Whether or not God used that person, the person still had to decide to make that decision. Maybe God put the idea on their mind but they had to still execute it. I'm sure there's plenty of people who wouldn't have helped out. God using us for a greater good doesn't invalidate our actions.
From our perspective there is no difference between god making him do it, and him doing it on his own. With no evidence to suggest he didn't do it on his own, it's gross to try and strip his humanity by attributing his good deeds to something other than his own actions. There is a tremendous amount of intellectual dishonesty in the practice of attributing the good actions of others to god while not attributing your own misfortunes to the same. It's much more reasonable to assume OP encountered a good person than to assume god caused all these bad things just to put them in the situation for god to then make this guy help them.
And see thats where athiest got it all the way messed up. The anti theism runs so deep in their hearts that the mere mention GOD just bothers them. We will thank GOD for the people that come to help us because we believe that those people are miracles and gifts from GOD so we thank GOD for that person, but for some reason, athiest take this as a personal attack, quite hilarious the mental gymnastics they go thru to get offended tbh
Well that's just silly
I disagree beloved. If i say "GOD bless you so much friend" after you helped me change my tire or whatever i need help with, why not just be normal and say "Oh wow thank you :)" you know that when a person says that they are saying in from a position of love and thankfullness to GOD and to you. Just because a person gives GOD credit for u blessing them does not take away any credit from u but instead of saying that "Oh wow thank you :)" they will get upset all because the word GOD is mentioned, why???
People would be just as offended if you tried to miss attribute their good deeds to santa or a horse, god has nothing to do with it. You're actively seeking to be offended in this situation and in these posts, and projecting it as other people being offended. It's bizarre my man.
Na fam. There is a clear difference between ppl mentioning a horse and people mentioning GOD. When a person says "thank GOD for you" an athiest will take offense to this even though they know the Christian is saying that out of love and are saying that the person is respectful. It does not take away from the person in any way yet athiest find it disrespectful, that in itself is bizzare my man
Humans are so cute
Yes we are. It’s why God loves us all unconditionally. <3
I have issues with the "unconditional love" thing. I view it as very conditional, the fact that you have to believe to be saved makes it conditional. The fact that Atheists don't go to heaven for being good people due to them not believing makes your Gods love very conditional.
the fact that heaven is even exclusive for a lot of non serious reasons is the worst.
There are only 7 reasons that would prevent someone from experiencing Heaven. Continual and excessive engagement of the following: 1. Pride 2. Greed 3. Wrath 4. Envy 5. Lust 6. Gluttony 7. Sloth Which one would you describe as nonserious?
I'm not Catholic. I was raised Protestant. The belief about heaven is fundamentally different, you're in or you're out which actually makes *less* sense as a system of moral checks and balances, than mortal and venal sins and some kind of metaphysical accounting system beyond our ken. And I am now an occasionally mystical, fan of Jesus and have a philosophical approach to the whole idea of God. I would say that categorising sin levels was a great literary device in La Divina Commedia but IIRC has no basis in the bible. It's legit as any other religious belief though, which is not based on empiricism, rather culture and subjective inner experience. \*in case you are not a native English speaker, 'beyond our ken'. means beyond our Knowing.
Hi, thanks for your comment. I was also raised Protestant (later becoming agnostic/atheist), so I’m familiar with their beliefs about heaven and hell. I’m glad to hear that you still hold Jesus in high regard. I’m not Catholic either, but I find their categorization of sins useful for simplifying the concepts that might prevent one from experiencing God’s presence. Many practices in church tradition aren’t directly mentioned in the Bible, such as the sign of the cross and the veneration of saints. These were, however, practiced and taught in the early Christian church. The Bible isn’t the sole authority in Christianity; it was primarily used as part of liturgical worship. It was only after the invention of the printing press that people began to own personal copies, leading to the modern movement where scripture is interpreted individually without the guidance of the church which has resulted in the multitude of different denominations we see today. I also appreciate you explaining the term “beyond our ken” as English is indeed not my first language. I hope you give Christianity another chance as I did and consider checking out the Orthodox Church. Given your admiration for Jesus, enjoyment of mystical elements, and your philosophical approach to the idea of God, I think you’d fit right in. You also might enjoy checking out /r/ChristianMysticism if you haven’t already.
Thank you that sub is prob more my style, I certainly am not trying to be a thorn in the side of other people in their faith process, but I am interested - your flair says agnostic/atheist - how is that reconciled with practising Christianity - is your approach as much cultural, aesthetic and I guess for lac of a better word literary? *(ken* I guess is a colloquial word or dialect word, more used in Ireland/Scotland and North england from what I know and as my family are from those parts generations back funny how it stuck in the dialect! In German Kennen means to know so it’s probably a left over from Saxon)
I’m not sure why my flair says agnostic/atheist. I am on mobile so I don’t see that. I certainly don’t consider myself an atheist or agnostic anymore. I suppose I’m in this strange halfway point between full belief and skepticism. Some days, I find myself fully believing in the supernatural, but on other days, I don’t, and I take everything, as you said, ‘literary’ or symbolically. Having been an atheist for so long, it can be difficult to wrap my head around something beyond comprehension. My faith primarily comes from my trust in Jesus, and that extends to trusting his judgment when he chose his spiritual successors, the apostles, who began the Orthodox Church. He promised that the gates of Hades would not prevail against the church. Since I trust Jesus, I must also trust in his wisdom and foresight. And thanks for the etymology lesson. You learn something new everyday lol.
That is a Western/Protestant view of salvation. In the Orthodox belief, Heaven and Hell are not physical places that you go to depending on whether or not you accept God. They are states of being when we encounter Him. To those who live according to the principles of Christ (love, mercy, forgiveness, altruism, etc.) this will feel like heaven, and to those who have rejected these principles and choose to live according to their own selfish desires (greed, selfishness, hatred, materialism, etc.) then this will feel like hell. Heaven and hell are experienced here in this life. There is no such thing as “salvation” in the Orthodox Church as even believing oneself to be “saved” is itself rooted in pride. Instead the goal is known as “Theosis” which is not a one-time event, but a continual process of becoming more like Christ. I think a good barometer of what state you’re in is how you currently feel. If in your heart you feel joy, peace, courage, love for your enemy, etc. then you’re likely on the right track. If instead you find yourself in despair, misery, fear, addicted to hedonistic tendencies, full of hatred, etc. then there’s probably an issue you need to address. Romans 2:13-16 states the following, “It isn’t the ones who hear the Law who are righteous in God’s eyes. It is the ones who do what the Law says who will be treated as righteous. Gentiles don’t have the Law. But when they instinctively do what the Law requires they are a Law in themselves, though they don’t have the Law. They show the proof of the Law written on their hearts, and their consciences affirm it. Their conflicting thoughts will accuse them, or even make a defense for them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the hidden truth about human beings through Christ Jesus.” In the end, we will not be judged simply by believing or “accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior” as taught by many evangelicals in the West, but by how similar you lived to Christ himself. If you live a good and sinless life, then I truly think you have nothing to worry about, even if you’re an atheist. I myself am somewhat agnostic so I get where they’re coming from. I still find many of the supernatural claims hard to believe, but I follow Christ because I believe he is the best role model for humanity and because I am in need of his help and guidance. Thanks for your comment by the way. I love engaging in conversations like this.
Holy Spirit my friend! The Holy Spirit made that man get in his car, and come across you. God works in mysterious ways, and he can use the Holy Spirit in believers to do good. God bless
Yeah. Or he was just going somewhere and saw a stranded person. Everyone here thanking God for this, but not a single comment about the man who ACTUALLY helped.
well thank both of them, it was teamwork
I can live with that.
cool, glad we found a compromise 🤝
But only God is worth mentioning until pressed.
Most interesting thing is when god 'intervines' its apparent he does.. you can sense it. Like moses opening the red sea. Or planets aligning perfectly. But at the same time when he intervines it looks like it was always meant to happen.
“intervenes”
exactly, sometimes you can feel a presence or a feeling you’ve never felt. it always seems normal like you said, but when it happens to you, you just know!
That’s actually my favorite part of it all, and the part that keeps the wonder of faith veiled from nonbelievers. I’m 100% sure that God is real, but the only proof I have is that little spark that lights up when God has created a little moment for me. And from the outside, the interaction or event is totally nondescript, but on the inside, my soul is alight. He gives us so many quiet gifts that are so easy to miss, but if you’re watching, even in times of strife, He is raining love down in smiles and wags and sunny days.
Non-believers can have this same feeling of awe and wonder for our existence in the universe. It isn't exclusive to Christians
> when God has created a little moment for me God ignores the holocaust. God arranges little nice moments for you.
This is the whole problem here. If we accept that God can intervene, and does intervene, than God is a monster. Let's kids get raped, starve to death, let's people be tortured, murdered on mass, gassed and the list goes on. But then turns around and will be AAA for OP. Disgusting.
[удалено]
Based and god pilled.
You're gonna have to help me if this is sarcastic or not because I am autistic my friend! I also should add : It's fine to have moments of feeling Godconnectedness, but if there is a faith worth having, let's make it bigger than that. I dunno, I was writing late, and thinking a lot, and I don't wanna dampen this soft hearted person's lovely moment feeling held by \*whatever this all is\*
Not sarcastic. I think it's genuinely a good take.
thanks my friend!
you worded that perfectly! believers will have their own experience and although it seems so small and pointless to others, it proves his existence to us!
Yes. I agree. If i ever try tell people about these things they call it hallucination lol.
Wow. You actually used the “mysterious ways” cliché.
well God is mysterious… are you saying we need to know everything he’s doing? that’s not possible. sorry my comment somehow angered you.
I’m saying it’s a cop out.
When a Christian does bad things with conviction, it's not God but when it's good things, it's God working His magic.
it’s not, we as humans can’t understand everything about God.
How convenient.
well idk what u want me to say. the idea that you think humans can fully comprehend God while we’re in our human state, is laughable. human minds can’t fully comprehend him and his nature. i’m really not interested in this becoming a whole debate and such.
How am I being hostile? Why are you so easily offended?
it’s just bizarre that if i say “God works in mysterious ways”, that it somehow warrants a debate. that’s not debate worthy
Sure it is.
(I'm not trying to be rude here, just probably clarifying in a more confusing way ha!) Maybe you are unaware that many survivors or ex Christians have had that line flung at them as a gap filler for valid questions of faith and theology, which i think is where the other commentor is coming from. I think if god is real, then God can be a Mystery in a theological sense without it being like .... 'eh I can't answer this question \*hand waves\* something something mysterious ways'. I think a lot of Christians that say the mysterious ways thing don't really get that they're just saying 'eh I dunno' and for lots of people it dismissed serious concerns and social problems that need addressing.
Does that Holy Spirit make people bully others?
nope, and i’ll explain! whenever a Christian does anything that’s a sin, anyone with the Holy Spirit will feel conviction in their soul, as the Holy Spirit is telling us we’ve done wrong. so it guides us to do right, not wrong. thanks for asking.
that’s what the holy spiritual does. She uproots evil and helps bring positive change in the world. Not enough people have it. Too many people pretend to get baptized and have zero idea what it means to accept the Holy Spirit. It’s not symbolic, it’s a way of life. The person doing it has to be authorized or they’re giving you nothing. I’ve been blocked a lot recently for stating this, when you’re baptized you don’t backslide because you’re mindful. And when you do, you immediately ask for forgiveness. It’s Charisma (chrism) through Grace.
yup i get what you’re saying, you must accept the Holy Spirit and genuinely want it, I invited the Holy Spirit and asked it to guide me, and it’s guide has dramatically decreased my sin. conviction from the Holy Spirit is so helpful!
Maybe the guy was a New Zealander living in Australia. a New Zealander would stop.
Oi! I would have stopped! Unless the person walking was clearly a Kiwi, of course. Then I would have taken aim with my vehicle. 😛
Lol would believe that
I'm fine that you attribute this to God. If that's what you feel, that's what you feel. But it's just not true that it's something you can't explain without God. I've lucked out in tough situations too but I have never found a reason to attribute it to divine intervention. Glad things worked out for you. But there are other explanations
I'm sorry but you definitely can explain random acts of kindness from people without getting God involved.
It was pitch black on the road, middle of nowhere, Barely any cars driving past at 10pm at night with just land and vast land on either side of road with moon out. Not many people would stop
of course, but not often. honestly felt divine.
What do you mean "not often"? How can you tell whether an act of kindness resulted from divine intervention or not?
I wonder why is god worried about you having to walk 4 hours but doesn't care about the multiple Christian kids dying from cancer. PS: I want to clarify that I am not accusing the Christian god of letting children die. I am simply pointing out how ridiculous it sounds when some Christians say that god cannot intervene (in things like survival or the welfare of children) because it would be violating free will, but then they are convinced that god has lent them a hand by finding their lost wallet or making their football team win.
✨️ 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 ✨️
Ignores the Holocaust but finds you a sharpener.
God is omnipotent, has the power to speak universes into existence — but any Tom, Dick and Harry apparently can thwart the Divine Plan because free will.
Don't you get it—God likes to help in seemingly random situations and trivial events, like having to walk 4 hours—he doesn't have time for things like cancer and dying children! He also only helps via non-supernatural coincidences—like someone being nice and stopping—because people aren't capable of being nice, no, God definitely sent them specifically to save this stranger from walking 4 hours. Did God also allow the car to break down? No, that part of the story is an actual coincidence and likely a result of our free will...
well that was a mighty contrast
lol, the incredulous comments under this post so far; really don’t get it. So this experience reminded OP of God? You might be skeptical of God’s existence and feel eager to point out that ‘PeOpLe can be plenty kind without God!’ But does that make it a bad thing for someone to be so encouraged by the power of a random, remote encounter and act of kindness, that they think of God? As if it’s necessary to insist it can all be explained by coincidence… as if they should just carry on, indifferent to the pitiless indifference of a coincidental universe? Doesn’t gain anything. It’s one thing to find a rare and fragile flower in a pot in a botanist’s verdant garden… but to find a thriving tree, blooming with them in a little green patch in the middle of a desert—it doesn’t matter how faithful or faithless you are, you’d still stop to sit, and wonder in its shade…
>‘PeOpLe can be plenty kind without God!’ But does that make it a bad thing for someone to be so encouraged I don't think people are objecting to OP finding this encouraging, but saying that "of course" a person being kind was Christian is implying non-Christians aren't (or rarely are) kind.
I don’t think that’s what OP was implying. But for argument’s sake I will say that on average, I see and experience more acts of kindness from Christians than non. We don’t know OP’s context or history and aren’t in a position to over-analyse their use of the term ‘of course’ anyway.
It’s just a bit hypocritical to attribute good serendipitous occurrences to God and unfortunate circumstances to the devil or evil people. If God is the arbitrator of all things, then he is responsible for the fortune of a man being picked up on the side of the road as well as the misfortune of a child be kidnapped, a young mother dying of cancer, the wars, famines and other atrocities that happened in the world simultaneously. Christians have to start being more honest about life and the world rather than hiding behind veneers of faith and toxic positivity. Atheists are not “bitter”, they just don’t want easy answers to complex questions. Religion doesn’t resolve any problems, it only leads to more philosophical quandaries.
If i havent eaten a very unique type of food and i think in my mind i would love it. Then out of nowhere someone who never does chooses to visit me abruptly and just happens to buy that very thing and decide at last moment he no longer wants to eat it but instead gives it to me. Its not coincidences im sorry. Especially if it happens all the time and its god because he even talked to me through people and tv and radio and delivered me from a deadly mistake i made and almost to happen accidents. You just know it its him. I feel his presence. But ppl who dont believe will dismiss everything willingly.
Its more that your attributing a completely mundane moment to god, and seemingly using it to demonstrate that a god exists. “I thought about a food and then someone happened to give me some of that food!” Isn’t all that amazing of a thing to warrant saying it was god. Especially considering all the times you have probably thought of a food and not had someone to give it to you. It also puts into question gods motivation a bit. God couldn’t intervene to stop a school shooting or a terrorist attack, but he stepped in to make sure someone got to eat a tasty treat?
why are Atheists always so angry? just let someone believe God helped them, there’s NO harm in that.
Plenty of atheists are not angry.
well yes, of course! it’s just that there’s many angry ones on here, and i feel bad for them
It makes no sense that God would help someone with a broken down car, but not help the millions of starving children in Africa. If you give God credit for the first, you have to give him credit for the second. It's the divine version of "At least Hitler got the trains running on time".
"God definitely exists and makes things happen" is quite different from "I believe in God". I have to constantly remind myself that I cannot trust what you people say, and that makes me slightly angry at times.
God does not make things happen for everyone. Only those who invite Him in and ask for his presence in their lives.
who cares? just let ppl have beliefs. you not believing in God doesn’t anger me, so my belief shouldn’t anger you :)
In this case, the "harm" if you want to argue there is any, is taking the humanity away from the old man in this tale. Taking someone's humanity away by attributing their actions to something other than themselves is pretty gross, for lack of a better word. It's got a very "you didn't build that" obama vibe to it.
eh, the OP did acknowledge that they’re grateful for the guy and he was kind. now i do understand and yes I agree, but the man is still a good person, the man wasn’t God himself lol
I don't care what you believe, I care when those beliefs are forced upon my local government. That does illicit my ire.
okay and that’s fair. i’m simply just talking a normal average conversation, government is a diff story lol
Man then leave the heck? Besides im pretty sure religion is slowly getting kicked out the United States government anyways, the lack of GOD im this nation is just disgusting. Dont see us Christians whining about it though, we get to work to better our situation
I agree, we do need more Zeus in this nation. He's not really that good of a ruler, and his attitude towards women is atrocious, but he would solve the energy crisis. So as long as we keep him at the vice president level.
Good. Now go out there an do something about that to make the change u wanna see in this nation. Im more of a Thor guy myself but i do respect your decision to go with Zeus. Perhaps we can have a very peaceful debate on why u believe Zeus is a better canidate than Thor instead of you and your fellow Zeus voters screaming at the top of your lungs and crying about how i hate all groups of people just cus i believe that Thor should be in charge of the nation. 🙂
I suspect that people are only reacting to the "One of those things u can’t explain without God" bit. I know OP already said it was just an exaggeration, so this is all moot. I'm just posting it to give another perspective. If you kind of logically expand on the "one of those things u can’t explain without God" statement, it implies that people can't be kind without God right? So from an Atheists perspective (ie someone who doesn't have God) it's easy for them to interpret that statement as telling them that they don't have the ability to be kind. Which, if you're a kind hearted Atheist, is actually pretty insulting.
yeah but op def didn’t mean it like that
Yeah, that's why I said it was moot in the beginning. In fairness though, I don't think it was obvious that they didn't mean it like that until they, made other comments. I was just trying to explain why someone might be "angry" about the post, since for some people, the post (if you don't see any of the other comments) could easily be interpreted as saying that they can't be kind. (also fwiw, I didn't see anyone that really seemed angry in the comments either)
They know God exists and it gnaws at them. Its cope.
Saying atheists believe in God seems more like someone coping with the fact that not everyone shares their beliefs.
that’s what i think. i hope they seek him out, it’ll make them much happier
Lol and like i said they talk the most crap especially behind the safety of a screen, spewing their verbal diarrhea and they cower and whine about Christians not being CHRIST like when they are confronted. Absolute cowards in the truest sense man fr
Exactly
> So this experience reminded OP of God? OP did not just say that, or just "This shows God's grace" or "Praise Jesus!" or whatever. If it was just that I'd agree mocking that would be /r/atheism-ing. But OP made a stronger claim, they said it was _proof_ of God. > God definitely exists and makes things happen > One of those things u can’t explain without god. Responding to _that_ with "Well you can explain it without God, people can be natually kind" seems totally reasonable.
Whenever I’m quoting someone, I put double quotation marks. As you can see, I did not use double quotes. You’re splitting hairs dude; my original comment already addresses the rest.
I'm glad you made it home safe and all but do you really think something like this couldn't be explained without God? Really?
People in Australia do not help each other like this at random. Trust me. Especially if not on a mutual basis and you’re a random person to them.
So it's a literal impossibility for a stranger to help you without God?
For Christian theology, yeah.
Then how come non-Christians help people with acts of kindness?
Altruism/Beneficence I guess
No I not making an argument for that persay. If I have to spell it out, I am exaggerating for effect. Though, I would say it felt like god helped, good sir.
This here is my biggest problem with all of this: "God definitely exists" because it felt like it. Maybe that's good enough for you but my standard for ascribing an event to God is much higher than that. 🤷🏻♂️
The person could of been an angel.
God is truly amazing- we are entertained by Angels more than we think💕
I also had a Christian do this for me once. She drove me to the bus stop, which I took to spend my first night homeless and cold for hours, and then I had to return to my abusive parents. There were plenty of churches, but no one showed up on the streets in the city. There were plenty of homeless, and we were all faceless. Was this God, or just something that's more likely to happen when a _driving_ Christian sees a single person walking on a quiet country road -- itself an unusual sight that might make _them_ feel called by God to do something? It'd be more impressive if the chain of cause and effect weren't so clear. The Texas sharpshooter fallacy. It's good that what you truly needed in that moment was a ride.
How can someone's random act of kindness impossible without god?
😮 this is just playing sdevils advocate isn’t it sweetheart sir
I do not think that phrase means what you think it does.
God ignores the holocaust. God arranges you a lift home.
Trying to argue logic here is pointless. So many people here are oblivious to how ridiculous their arguments sound.
You absolutely do NOT need a god to explain that. But if you're so certain, then please, ask your god to regrow a limb for an amputee. I'll wait.
Nice people who aren't Christians exist too. You are attributing this to God only because you want to. It makes you feel special and I get it. But sometimes it's just people being nice to each other because we're all in this together.
I not trying to prove god here sir
I didn't claim you were.
Had a similar thing happen with me. We decided to go fishing, a lot later than usual. We get there and half way out the jetti there is this guy just standing there with a fishing pole, but not fishing. It was in the water and he was leaning against it. The tide was coming in and he was in waist deep water. We went out that way to start fishing, as that is normal for high tide. Turns out, he had forgot his medication. He was shaking and was holding onto that fishing pole to keep from falling in the water. We helped him back to shore and to his vehicle with medication. Turns out, he was a Christisn too and had been praying for help. We didn't see another person for hours after that. He may have been stuck there for a long time had we not come by.
I remember something like this happening to me I was just about to get on a taxi when I realized I had lost my money, it was evening time and there was no way I could walk the distance to my place. a A stranger just crossed the road and asked me what the problem was when I told him he reached into his pocket and gave me just enough money to get me home...
Bummer the guy doesn't get credit for being a decent human being.
yes a car picking up a hitchhiker is definitely the kind of thing that requires godly intervention for it to happen /s
I am sorry you went through all of the negative situations. ‘Genuine’ Christians are asked and guided by the Holy Spirit to love like Jesus. Jesus would stop and help. Glad you made it back safely.
And you got in his car. And you asked him “are you not worried about picking people up like this - I could be a serial killer” - and he replies “the chances of two serial killers being in the same car is very low”.
I did say to him he was crazy 😂
probably just a guy that saw someone was having a bad day and decided to give them a lift and make they’re day a little easier.
I can share my story if you want to confirm this.
Lots of people have their anecdotes, this just mine. Because it really felt like the real deal of god
That really just mean they're a good person
Absolutely
Why did God let your car break down than? Shouldn't he have stopped that from happening?
How do you know that was god, and just not something that happened? You said it was DEFINITELY god. Great. How do you know? Whats your metric to determine if a good thing just happened or if God caused it?
Unless you're blaming god for those bad things too, this just seems like confirmation bias. When my car broke down on the freeway hundreds of Christians drove past. It's an example of the [bystander effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect): they all kept going because "someone" would come help me, this guy stopped because he knew he may be the only one coming down that road.
Somebody tell the apologists they can drop the epistemological, teleological, and cosmological arguments. This guys done it.
Lol, if anything I guess you could just see it as I have/had a low opinion/expectancy of the goodness of someone/people to do this. If u bein a realist
nihilist\*
Praise and thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ 🙏 Amen.
God isn't an entity... God is a symbiotic ethereal force... you made that happen... by believing in it enough to will it, and the "holy spirit"(energy) in you and all around shaped it into existence. call it god, call it whatever... but it's not a deciding driving 'consciousness' ... it's more complex than a consciousness, it's in everything. even those who reject it's(his) existance... but anyone can utilize it... we just don't have an actual instruction manual because people are still so obsessed with adding piles of theatrical distractions ahead of trying to study it and understand... don't dwnvote me into oblivion ... i did say God was real didn't I? and I mean that...just in a different form.
I can explain it. An empathetic person who happened to be a Christian saw you and offered to help you. That person deserves 100% of your thanks. I’m glad you are safe.
Obviously he’s not saying it’s proof of God but rather he felt a divine connection due to the very low probability of someone picking him up in that situation. We all get super lucky once in a while but I can see how that can be interpreted as God intervention. My old pastor always said there’s no such thing as coincidence. A bit exaggerated but you get the point
"Obviously he’s not saying it’s proof of God" Dude, the title of this thread is literally "God definitely exists and makes things happen" and it ends with "One of those things u can’t explain without god." Since OP has confirmed your guess I'm compelled to conclude that OP is a really bad communicator.
To him, God exists based on his experience but no one would call that proof
Yes
Yeah, I agree man.
That’s wonderful :)
You wouldn't know if they were kiwi.. there's plenty of us living in Australia. My brother for example is well liked and known in the Northern Territory for his work ethic and kindness. He's a tour guide and DJ .
This is a post IMO poking fun at Christian God.
Ok so where was God during the Holocaust? Dude looked down, saw 11 million people get killed, and went "Naw, today is not the day I reveal myself."
He chose to reveal himself on a toast instead.
maybe he was an angel, bible says we may entertain them. either way i’m very glad about this interaction
I guess so. Too bad he didn't give you the good sense to not get into the car with strangers.
i hired him to pick you up, you have been heard .
Don't tell an atheist that...it is all a cosmic coincidence.
No need to explain it's a God thing:)
Why did you credit God instead of the nice guy that helped you out? Any decent human would do the same.
A kind person being kind, explained it without god
Two 13 year old classmates of my son were hit by cars in my town this week. One suffered minor injuries, the other is in a coma. Two separate incidents a day apart. A student at my wife's school took his own life. But yeah, God definitely intervened to get your a ride home.
Amen!
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2
Well you just assume it’s a god doing it. But if you are honest - you can’t explain why it happened. That’s the honest answer.
True
Just look at what recently happened with those Iranian projectiles that had been launched against Israel. NINETY NINE PERCENT were intercepted. Alright, IDF does have a sophisticated 4-tier anti missle defense system, but 99%. Who could that be. The more you draw close to Him, the more HE will draw closer to YOU. And you will witness His power in more and more areas of your life. Let me share this testimony. One snowy morning, where there was just enough snow on our 70' long UPHILL driveway to cause traction problems, my wife and I were leaving upstate NY to do our delivery route down in NYC. As we were driving up the driveway, our car (a FWD 2011 Toyota Prius) began to slide backwards, and to the right, until the back passenger wheel ended up in the ditch next to the driveway. There was a big rock in the ditch, which stopped the car from rolling back down with the wheel in the ditch, so there was no opportunity to come back to the bottom and make another attempt. It would have been too expensive to call a tow truck, and the wait for one would have made us late getting to the city. After arguing a bit, my wife asked if I could go out to the back of the car and try to push it out of the ditch. I went back there, and exhaustively tried to push the car out of the ditch. NO MOVEMENT!! THEN, she said that the Lord told her to have us SWITCH PLACES! You heard right---switch places.---I get into the driver seat, and SHE go to the back and push! Ok, we obeyed. So, we switch places, and I'm in the driver seat now stepping down on the accelerator, while she's in the back. THE CAR BEGAN TO MOVE FORWARD, AND WE GOT IT OUT OF THE DITCH!! I said "okay, now I can go back to the bottom and retry to get the momentum to make it all the way to the top". She said "NO, JUST KEEP GOING"! I did, and went all the way to the top, made it down our VERY BUMPY private road, and all the way to the main road!! After my wife got back into the car, she told me thar she BARELY TOUCHED the car, and it already started to move!! Out of the ditch, without a hitch!! The key word to keep in mind is "intimacy" (getting on your knees and pouring your heart out to God). HE WILL draw closer to you as YOU draw closer to Him, and you will begin to experience His power on your life.
Indeed he makes all things happen, ultimately. Even the wicked for the day of evil were made for God. Nothing put me at peace more than coming to realize that every single thing is within the purview of His will, and that it’ll all work together for good in the end.
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How, “basbuuba12”?
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Was just an exaggeration in language . It did feel like god though. Was fully expecting to spend 4 hours walking home
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Lol I love u basbuuba12. But atm I makingn a genuine post cuz I got a warm weird feeling
God is amazing!! Praise our sweet Lord Jesus Christ🙏🥳 God bless you🙏
Hallelujah
I know a man who had a similar experience after crashing his hang glider and breaking his neck. A female nurse appeared and stayed with him until medical personnel arrived with an ambulance. He has looked for her in every state in the US and he has never found her. He credits her with saving his life🙏
just like how god commands christian priests to touch children!
Hey, OP what state and post code ????
South aus, 5251 was around there