Looking for "Proof" that God Exists?

As a kid, my buddy Tim and I would often sit outside and stare at the sky and ask deep philosophical questions like, "How big is the universe?", "How did all this get there?", and "Does God exist?"  These are logical questions to ask when observing the stars laid up against the black of night.  

So often when I am discussing these issues with people they respond with something like this:  "I don't live by faith.  I will only believe that which can be proven."  I appreciate the heart behind this sentiment - after all, the idea of God is certainly a big one, with rather large consequences one way or the other - but I must say that at the end of the day, it is an untenable and unrealistic perspective.  Here's why.

Every single person lives every day by faith.  If faith is "believing something without 100% proof", then we live by faith all the time.  The next time you board an airplane ask yourself this series of questions:  Do I know the pilot personally?  Do I know the mechanics?  Do I know that the pilot is good?  Do I know that he is in good health and will not collapse en route?  Do I know that there are no terrorists that have smuggled bombs on board?  Do I know that my bags will arrive at my destination (haha)?  

The answer to these questions - every single one of them - is no (perhaps you might know the pilot once in a blue moon, but that's rare).  You do not know these things for certain.  And yet you board the plane and entrust people you don't know in a plane that you don't know is in good working order or has enough fuel with your very life and perhaps the lives of your children (if you have any and they are on board with you).  That is a significant risk you are taking.  You are trusting them with your life, but you are doing so without proof.  

What you don't have is proof.  What you do have, however, is sufficient reason to believe.  And there's a huge difference between the two.  It isn't just about airplane rides either.  Do you know that your car has been fixed properly by your mechanic of 20 years?  No.  They sometimes make mistakes.  But you have good reason to believe that he did a fine job, so you feel ok about getting behind the wheel.  Do you know that the person on the other end of the phone that you're giving your personal information to really does work for the insurance company, and that someone else isn't tapping into that phone line?  No.  But you have good reason to believe that it is.

You see my point.  Every day we live by faith, not proof.  Sometimes the situation is small, and sometimes we literally put our lives in the balance based on faith, not proof.  We do so, though, because we have what we believe to be good reasons for doing so.

So why is it any different with God?  Why do we demand 100% proof that God is real when we never - not for a single day in our lives - live with that perspective anywhere else?  It can't just be because the consequences are so big; after all, we put our very lives and the lives of loved ones in taxicabs driven by people with no vowels in their last names in foreign cities and on airplanes flown by people we can't even see.  The stakes don't get any bigger than that, yet we live by faith all the time.

I would encourage you to follow with me over the next handful of posts, because I will attempt to lay out for you what for me are sufficient reasons to believe in God's existence.  I understand that what is sufficient reason for me may not be sufficient reason for you.  Maybe what satisfies me doesn't satisfy you.  That's all well and good.  But please do not think that what you really require is "proof" of God's existence because that is an untenable and unrealistic position, and it is inconsistent with how you live the rest of your life.  

Let us pursue "reasons to believe" together!!