Originally posted by vivify
In the course of being a follower of Jesus Christ there in fact WILL be times when the Christian will question - at least - is God with them or not.
Through successive trials, spaced out or arranged by the Father according to His wisdom, faith will be tested.
The purpose such tests is to deepen the roots of one's being into the living God. You may have read the teaching about the kinds of ground the seed of the kingdom fell upon.
"And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the way, and the birds came and devoured them.
And others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much earth, and immediately they sprang up because they had no dept of earth. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered.
And others fell on the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.
And others fell on good earth and yeilded fruit, one a hundredfold, and one sixtyfold, and one thirtyfold." (Matt. 13:3-8)
Tests of faith await all who hear the gospel of the kingdom.
None hardly are exempt from tests or trials to their trust in the veracity of Christ's teaching.
The Christian is not exempt from so-called "proofs" that maybe the Gospel is not to be trusted so much. This includes circumstances that may give rise to the thought "Maybe there is no God ?"
The honeymoon of meeting God does not last indefinitely. Trials will come spaced out and arranged by God's sovereignty. You do not have to look tests. Tests to one's faith in Jesus Christ WILL come orchestrated by the Father. That is especially if you love Him and give Him the GROUND to grow in you.
Where I want to be is in the last catagory. That is those who cultivate and keep their heart - stones removed and weeds pulled up, thorns cut away, roots of faith allowed to deepen, through varied circumstances.
"But others fell on good earth and yielded fruit, one a hundredfold, and one sixtyfold, and one thirtyfold."
Your question to me is really "What if the seed of the kingdom teaching suffers the fate of one of the first three kinds of soil. What if something 'proves' God is not real or not existent ?"
Before you proposed the dilemma Jesus already forewarned us of the dilemma. And He seems to indicate we WILL be tested. It is less a matter or IF but of WHEN.
Thankfully, God is faithful even if we lose faith.
"If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." (2 Timothy 2:13)