How Do You Follow A God You Can’t See?

Growing up Catholic, I always knew God was real and that He loved us. When I accepted Christ in my life when I was 10 years old as my Savior, I knew God was there. I always thought He was so busy running the world and dealing with major issues like world hunger and wars that He didn’t have time to have a relationship with me. It never occurred to me that I was believing in a lie from the enemy!

The truth is God wanted to have a relationship with me. He also wants to have a relationship with YOU too!

But, how do you follow a God that you can not see? Is it possible? The answer is YES!! You can definitely learn how to follow God! But, there are some other questions to cover first.

Who Are You Following?
When you think about following a person today, who comes to mind? Influencers immediately come to my mind.

There are thousands of influencers on almost every subject who you can see and hear on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. They encourage us to buy this product or buy that one. Some influencers give demonstrations on how to do things. There are some questions you need to ask yourself:

• Do these influencers always all have your best interest in mind?
• Are all influencers good to follow?
• Is every single influencer telling you the truth?

The answer to the above questions is of course “no.” Not every influencer tells you the truth, is good to follow or has your best interest in mind at all times.
But if you replaced the word “influencer” with “God” all of the answers above would be “YES.”

 

Who You Choose to Follow Matters Greatly

Who you choose follow is extremely important. We can all agree that following someone who knows what they are doing is essential! Also, all of us would like to follow someone that is telling us the truth!
Let’s look at…

• Who is God?
• Is He a reliable? dependable? knowledgeable?
• How long has God existed?
• What is He capable to doing?

God Created the World and Everything in It

Whether we believe it or not, God created the universe. He also created each and every one of us and every living thing in this world. We as humans are actually made in His image. How incredible is that?

Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Acts 17:24 – “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.”
Genesis 1:27 – “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”

We can rest assure that following God is a good thing. He will never steer you down the wrong path, lead you astray or take advantage of you. God is for you!

 

Walking With God

Now we can get to the actual question of how do we let Him guide our steps when we can’t see Him? As we pursue God and draw closer to Him, what does that actually look like? How do you know you are doing it right?
God is AMAZING!!! If you seek Him, you will find Him!! His Word says so!!

Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
James 4:8a – “Come near to God and He will come near to you.”

 

Different Ways to Follow God

There are different ways we can follow God. Yes, you can follow a God that you can’t see. God is everywhere!
Some ways to follow God include:

• Pray to Him
• Read His Word
• Trust in Him
• Grow in Faith

 

Pray to God

We can seek God by praying to Him. Praying to God is the same thing as talking to Him. We don’t have to have eloquent words or a big speech prepared. You don’t have to be formal or stuffy. You can just be yourself and come as you are. Just share what is on your heart. He longs to hear from you.

If you don’t know exactly what to say, tell Him that. He is listening. You can also say a one word prayer like “HELP!” and He hears that too!

 

Read His Word

Reading the Bible, will help you know God’s character better. Whether you read the Old Testament or New Testament, you will learn something about God. When you read the Word, you will learn:

• God’s character
• His promises
• How Jesus lived His life
• How Jesus loved others, forgave and served others

The more you read the Bible the more familiar you will become with who God is and what He stands for.

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all the same person but they each have a different function. More on that in another blog to come.

 

Trust God & Grow in Your Faith

Learning to trust God and growing in your faith is a process and it takes time. I remember in my 20’s meeting what I thought were spiritual giants. My definition of a spiritual giant was someone who would follow God wherever He led them – no questions asked. They had a HUGE faith in God and trusted Him immensely!

I wanted to have my faith and trust in God like theirs, but I didn’t know how to get there. So, I started with prayer. I asked God to help me grow in these areas – whatever that looked like. He answered my prayers!

I can’t tell you the exact day or time when things began to change but they did. I know my faith and trust in Him grew a little at a time. Just like building a brick house…one brick at a time.

Now, over 30+ years later, I can honestly say that I trust God no matter what. I will follow Him wherever He leads me.
2 Corinthians 5:7 – “For we live by faith, not by sight.”

Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see.”

 

What Does Following God Look Like

Sometimes you will…

• have questions
• experience uncertainty
• not fully understand God’s timing
• make mistakes and realize you weren’t following God at all

As you follow God, you will recognize His ways and find yourself growing to be more like Him. You may notice growth in your life. You may see an increase in…

• love
• joy
• peace
• patience
• kindness
• goodness
• gentleness
• faithfulness
• self-control
• forgiving others

As you spend time with God in prayer, reading the Bible, and spending time with other Christians who follow Him; you will learn to recognize Him. You will learn how to rest in His promises and His timing for things in your life. You will learn what it means to walk by faith.

Even though you may not see God with your eyes, you can definitely see Him at work all around you!
John 10:27 – ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Isaiah 30:21 – Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

All verses are NIV unless otherwise specified.

 

If You Are the First-Generation Christian in Your Family

You may have known who God is growing up, while others may not have heard of Him before. Here are some truths about God:

• He has your BEST interest in mind at all times!
• God created you in His image!
• He always tells the truth!
• You can count on God.
• He will never let you down.

 

Helpful Resources

Below are some books on following God by some trusted Biblical teachers and Christian Publishers. Please click the links below to learn more about each book.

Following God’s Direction by Sarah Young

 

My New Life: A New Christians Guide to Following Jesus

 

Affiliate Disclosure: “The links under the Helpful Resource” page of my blog are affiliate links. If you purchase through the links above, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend resources I personally trust and believe will benefit first generation Christians.”

 

Reflection Questions

1. Who are you following? Are they a good influence on you?
2. Have you ever been led down the wrong path because you followed the wrong person?

 

Challenge

1. List the people in your life who have followed or are currently following. Have they directly or indirectly helped you to make some decisions.
2. Write down all the attributes of God that you have experienced and want to experience.
3. Journal how can you see God at work in your life?
4. Can you identify ways that God has changed the way you think about things because of your choice to follow Him? Please journal your findings.

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
Thank you for being a Father and God that I can always count on and trust to lead me in the right direction. Thank you for always having my best interest in mind. Please help me to learn how to follow you and hear your voice. Help me to learn to be only influenced by You and by the people who love and follow you.
I pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let’s Stay in Touch!

If this blog has helped you in any way or if you have a specific question regarding being a first-generation Christian, please email me at Denise@DeniseLBeyerle.com.

To read other First-Generation Christian blogs, go to www.DeniseLBeyerle.com.

Please share First-Generation Christian blogs or my website with

• anyone you know who is new in their walk with Jesus,
• a first-generation Christian or
• whomever you think the information may be helpful for them to read.

 

Let’s Connect by Social Media:

Never miss a First-Generation Christian Newsletter …

Sign up to receive a bi-monthly newsletter and receive a FREE- E-Book called “7 Things Every First-Generation Christian Should Know.” First Generation Christian newsletters are released every other Wednesday.