“Why Believe In God?”
A Testimony to Save Souls and Strengthen Faith”
By André Parker

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” John 3:16
During my quest to find out who God is, I found myself often times asking, why should I believe in God? God had never physically revealed himself to me or directly spoken to me. I had a hard time comprehending how people could believe in something that they have never seen before. A lot of people in this world tend to think the same way I do. Many do not believe in God, and, in fact, they don’t even bother to seek Him and to find out for themselves if He is real or not.

Years ago my faith in God was collapsing and I felt that I was going to give up completely on Christianity. At the time nothing was going as planned in my life and it was as though God had left me. Conversely, it was not God who had left me, but, instead I had fallen out of the will of God. Understand that God will never leave you because that act is out of His nature. You will never see a lion eating leaves, fruit and other greenhouse foods because it’s not in the lion’s nature. So as the lion never hungers for plants to eat, God NEVER hungers to leave you astray. Knowing that God will never leave me still did not steer my belief in God in the right direction, but, instead, caused me to wander even more. If He never left me then why was my faith in Him still diminishing? I needed to experience God in a different way. I needed a test to see if God was for real and He did just what I wanted. God put His name to the test.

During the same year that I was struggling with my faith in God my father was also battling illnesses. My father had battled heart disease and cancer before and had overcome all odds and survived both of those major illnesses. Now he was dealing with a certain illness called depression. My father simply wanted out of this world and he allowed himself to get sick. During that time he would not eat properly and became fond of alcohol. The devil had attacked my father’s mind and made him feel that the only way to have comfort and ease in life was through a bottle of gin. His immune system was failing and he was losing weight. He was in and out of the doctor’s office and often times spent his days sleep and alone. I became livid and disgruntled at God, blaming Him for what my father had become. I told myself that if there was truly a God He would not let this happen to my father. The devil plays tricks on us to make us believe that when something goes wrong in our lives we should blame God and that’s what I was doing. I blamed God for not having “the good life”, the perfect family, a healthy father, and I also blamed him for a vast list of more complaints. My father’s condition worsened as he began to deteriorate right in front of my eyes. He had now lost so much weight that you could see the silhouette of his spine and ribs when he removed his shirt.
One particular day began like any ordinary day. I woke up, went to school, work and then I came home. However, this day seemed a bit strange as if I felt that something was going to happen. I came home and dinner was prepared. My mother, my sister, and I sat at the dinner table to eat when my father slowly walked downstairs and slowly walked back upstairs to his bedroom. We simply just overlooked his ominous presence and continued to eat our dinner. My mother finished her meal and made her way upstairs to check on my father.

As I began to give myself another serving of food my mother yelled my name. My heart stopped and I prepared for the worse. Both my sister and I ran up the stairs into our parents’ room to find my father lying in bed motionless with tears in his eyes. I slowly walked to his beside and looked into his eyes. He turned his head slowly and looked at me and softly said, “Take care of your mother and sister”. In a panic, I frantically begged my mother to call the ambulance so that my father wouldn’t die. Also, I was going to be graduating from high school in about another two months or so. In my panic, something suddenly said to me, “Pray”! Startled at first, I was in disbelief not only at the fact that my father was now on his last breath, but that a voice out of nowhere shouted out “Pray”!!!

Afraid of what was going on I pulled myself together and it was as though someone was directing me on what to do. I touched my father legs and began to pray. I began to ask God to heal my father. I put my hands on my father chest and it was as if I could feel a current traveling out of my hands into my father’s body. My father, whose eyes were closed at the time and slowly breathing, opened his eyes wide and inhaled heavily as if he was being given new life. Astonished at what was going on, my mother and sister both began joining me in prayer and interceding with me. I continued to pray and I commanded that devil and my father’s sickness out of his body. I told my father to stand, and he arose and stood on his feet. As he stood I continued to pray for his strength and his healing. I then spoke to my father and told him that if he believed in his healing to call on the name of Jesus. Now my father never really claimed a religion and was not a church going man, but on this day he called on the name of the most high, JESUS!
Hearing my father call on the name of Jesus did not just set him free but it also set me free as well! I experienced something that I never felt before. I experienced the ultimate power and presence of God. I felt a sense of relief not only because my father would live to see another day, but because my God had His hands on me and my situation. My doubts in God were instantly erased and I began to repent and rededicate my life to God.

So why believe in God? Believe in Him because of the miraculous things that He does. Believe in God because He will never leave you. He is always by your side. For those of you who may be wavering in your faith, I pray that this testimony helps you understand that God, even in this present day, still shows up and does the impossible and the incredible! God is real and He is here for you. I hope that you receive Him and allow Him to do a mighty work in your life. Life with God, in time, will prove itself to be much sweeter. Try God for yourself. He enjoys putting His power to the test. He enjoys showing off and showing up in your current situation and in your life. If you’re unsaved, try God and allow Him to direct your path in life to receive His many blessings that He has in store for you. If you’re saved and have fallen away from God, I hope this testimony rekindles and ignites a new relationship with God. May the blessings of God be with you always.

Amen.